Morningside‘s sun-filled interior was like a beloved rectangular barn turned art studio. If you thirst for open space, artistic beauty, and sunlight on wooden beams, this branch is for you!
I felt calm and purposeful as I slowly walked from the entrance into the thick of the shelves. Even though the entire library was on one level, I found so many objects, images, and angles to photograph that I had to keep telling myself, “Now Catherine, how will a picture of a leaflet stand, a glass bowl full of blue and silver ornaments, or a fox in a mural push your narrative forward?”
While I don’t want to bog my text down too much, readers of this blog can probably surmise that I am unabashedly in love with aesthetic details. I rejoice in them for ever and alway! For example, I celebrated the snow in the skylight of the outer lobby, the wee Christmas tree on the checkout desk, and the Victorian village made out of illustrated cardboard.
Looking at the collection of ye olde churches, houses, hotels, and stores, I recalled the scene in A Mighty Wind when Eugene Levy is bowled over by a model train set and its attendant village: “I would love to see this town in the autumn.” I wondered how the paper village would look when it wasn’t Christmas-time.
After getting my fill of the old-fashioned towne, I wandered over to a generously wide window seat to the right of the check out area. It seemed the ideal spot to “read, imagine, dream, (and) escape,” which the large mural on the west wall invited me to do.
Completed in 2009, this vibrant wall painting was the successful result of a collaboration between Rob Matejka and seven youth artists. I liked how the knight was brandishing a brown book with TPL on the cover and proudly sporting TPL’s blue and white (as seen on signs and library cards). When I studied this champion of literacy, my thoughts turned to city politics: “Let Rob Ford verbally joust with this righteous force of tax dollars well-spent! Confronted by a literary equestrian and his upraised book, our mayor might tremble in his cost-cutting boots.” (That’s my late contribution to the Mural Story Contest, in which patrons were invited to create a narrative based on the figures in the mural).
In addition to the inspiring mural, Morningside branch boasted a wealth of framed artwork: photographs, watercolours, and oils. Two of my favourites were Adam Hussain’s tall bird and Evette Forde’s abstract piece. I love art-filled libraries like Morningside, Taylor Memorial, Spadina, Richview, Northern District, and Mount Dennis because they’re so uplifting!
Not only was Morningside art-friendly, I found the ceiling, windows, and window seats very artistically pleasing. Even the long wooden table attached to the north wall for the use of laptop-laden patrons was lovely in my sight. On the day of my visit, every spot was taken — a row of wi-fi enthusiasts glinting in the sun.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the giant wooden oval. I think it was designed to highlight the Children’s area below and its special carpet: stripes of brick red, green, blue, and an orange block. I’m beholden to the wooden feature, though, for it led me to the colourful bookcovers shown below: trippy tennis-playing kittens on a Tamil book, an Urdu-English tale about a lucky grain, and a French story about a grandfather’s maple syrup operation. Outside the purview of the overhead doughnut, the Adult multilingual section had Tamil materials and Hindi DVD’s but nothing in French or Urdu.
All in all, Morningside Library was a delightful longhouse full of my favourite things: books, paintings, window seats, and an open spirit. At a time when the city budget is being debated, attacked and defended, a library like Morningside exemplifies what truly matters: people over politics, books over tax-cuts, and beauty over cynicism.