I knew right away I was going to like the new Cedarbrae Library when a bird man on stilts waved his fuzzy rainbow duster of welcome at me. With a ukulele strapped on his back and wild tufts animating his head, the bird man was giving guests the highest fives of their lives as they approached the entrance.
Energizing the post-renovation party, tabla drums and sitar beats floated down from the second floor. The size of the crowd was impressive but not overwhelming. With 31,500 square feet of room to manoeuvre, the new space was equal to the challenge of accommodating so many eager Cedarbrae returnees. One woman who saw me taking pictures remarked, “It took so long (to reopen) that it had to be the Taj Mahal of libraries. And it is the Taj Mahal of libraries.”
In addition to the vocal praise-givers, I especially liked the patrons who simply flomped down and began to read in the new armchairs, ignoring the speeches, the buffet, and all the hoopla. In my view, these introverts represented the true soul of the ceremony, settling deeper into the shiny upholstery to savour the library they had missed.
The children also lost no time in claiming their rightful place in the fantastic KidsStop area. To step from ordinary carpet onto a floor of rippling blue water was to be transported by riverboat into a magical realm. In this world, you can read inside an elephant, find jungle animals on the wall, follow a path of pebbles and riverbeds, or curl up in a nook to call up a story on the phone.
The children were having a big time trying out the learning games attached to the sides of the riverboat. One of the coolest activities I saw was an illuminated box with a pen that used light instead of ink. I also liked the cushions and soft furniture that called out “Come read a book on me!”
Next to the lively KidsStop was a long banquette situated in front of a huge window overlooking the program room. People kept running over to the window, catching sight of a major food preparation scene in progress, and exclaiming, “It’s food! Let’s go get in line!”
Watching the unfolding buffet operation became a spontaneous spectator sport. A number of kids took to kneeling on the cushioned bench as they observed librarians peeling back yards of aluminum foil to reveal pans of rice and samosas. By five o’clock, the queue stretched from the locked program room door to the middle of the lobby.
When I returned to the area thirty minutes later, only rice and fruit punch were left, and a jolly group of eaters now occupied the new red stage and the tiers leading up to it. The featured afternoon matinée was Sitting and Standing with Heaped Paper Plate.
I wasn’t hungry, so I headed upstairs to avoid the chaos of the program room. It was much quieter on the second level, and all the extra space gave me a peaceful feeling. I was also impressed by the range of multilingual materials: Bengali, Hindi, Persian, Gujurati, Chinese, French, Urdu, Tagalog, Tamil, Polish, and Korean. Gazing at these shelves, the poetry selection for the Poetry is Public is Poetry installation on the sidewalk outside seemed especially apt: “A man packed a country in a suitcase with his shoes and left” (“Exile” by Rosemary Sullivan).
Other treasures of the upper floor included a local history room with the proper archival vibe, three study rooms alive to infinite possibility, and a Teen Zone with a long wavy black sofa already inhabited by conversing teenagers. I was also happy to see a gorgeous lounge and an extensive CD collection.
Comparing this successfully-renovated branch to how it looked when I took my 2003-2004 LINC classes to get their library cards, the place was unrecognizable. Inside and out, the new Cedarbrae Library is one of the best-looking buildings in this corner of Scarborough.
It was dark when I finally left the party. I turned around to take a few last pictures and was dazzled by the light pouring from the library. And when I returned five years later to take photos for an exhibit, the light had remained strong. Indeed, Cedarbrae’s open spirit combined with its tinted windows continue to offer rich creative lenses that delight the artist in us all.
