Breakfast in Scarborough

Downsview branch was my 50th library, a large and self-contained building with an enormous main floor and smaller basement level, similar in set up to Don Mills Library. As I entered Downsview library, my head tilted back in appreciation of the wealth of light and space above the shelves. I felt like I was in an extraordinarily spacious white tent.

As I walked through the aisles, I noticed the big Spanish, Italian, and French collections, as well as smaller ones in Gujurati, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Vietnamese, Bengali, and Chinese. A group of animated teenage boys were playing cards in the magazine section. A stuffed toy parrot supervised a display of books about the outdoors.

In the southwest corner of the main level was the children’s zone. It was separated by a low wall with a special entrance in the form of an eight-foot high red cylinder with a large circular opening for a gate. I don’t think the cylinder was supposed to be a rocket or a tomato — just some liminal space to pass through into magical world of reading. A librarian had posted lots of chicken jokes high on the walls of this section: “Why did the turkey cross the road? Answer: To show he wasn’t chicken.”

I wanted to finish looking at the library quickly because it was almost four o’clock, and there was another branch to visit before the Saturday closing time of five o’clock. Picking up the pace, I strode over to the staircase that led to the basement. Just at the point where the landing curved to meet the first flight of steps, there was an open space between the landing and the set of windows spanning both floors. Two blue butterflies hung from the ceiling of the main floor in this open space, supporting strings that dangled all the way to the basement level. Paper cranes in red, pink, yellow, blue, and green clung to the two long strings, creating an origami cascade down to a book display of summer reading below.

The basement level was more down-to-business, what with its careers section, shelves of adult non-fiction, and extensive ESL and literacy collection. I selected a pronunciation book for one of my classes and scooted past long rows of dark green bookcases for a quick check-out. Thus endeth my fiftieth library encounter!

With the countdown to closing time getting closer and closer, it was fortunate that the next library I visited was a small one. Consisting of one square room in a community centre near Avenue and Wilson, Armour Heights branch had a very sheltering feel to it, especially with its substantial brick fireplace on the east wall. A long low eave spanning the length of the fireplace had been been converted into a reading bench. The bench was covered with inviting cushions, teddy bears, a tiger, zebra, and other assorted animals. A wooden chest with a Peter Rabbit decoration completed the cozy scene.

With only ten minutes left before closing, only two other library patrons besides myself remained. One beleaguered staff member was trying to deal with a querulous gentleman who seemed to feel the Toronto Public Library was persecuting him. He complained of being fined for books he had actually returned, and he condemned young librarians at another branch for not “giving a damn” and even laughing at him. I didn’t care for his loud, bullying tone, as he informed the woman at the Armour Height’s checkout desk that he’d even gotten people fired who didn’t respect him. She did her best to calm him down by being sympathetic, saying that the library system wasn’t perfect and she’d had similar problems. It was a relief for all of us when he finally left (not without asking the librarian’s name). I exited just after him and wasn’t overly surprised when he didn’t hold the door for me.

Later in the week, I visited library number fifty-two, Saint Lawrence branch. Located on Front Street near Sherbourne, Saint Lawrence’s entrance was through a public courtyard. Five gray pillars resting on beige marble bases held up the ceiling of the one long room. Four of the pillars were bare, but the one near the checkout desk was partly covered with flip-chart paper on which someone had drawn Egyptian hieroglyphics. I saw owls, snakes, herons, eyes, some Cleopatras, and ankh symbols on the paper.

The usual library sections were represented, along with one on local history. A framed 1867 map of Toronto showed the importance of the local neighborhood to the founding of our city. Another special feature of Saint Lawrence branch was a puppet theatre set into the wall. Paper vines, flowers, and clouds decorated the space around the square opening, along with a smiling sun and a castle (both in felt). A felt vine dangled in the air of the performance space, reminding me of “Jack and the Beanstalk”. Opposite the puppet theatre was a large cardboard castle-structure that had three arches and was plastered with notices about summer reading.

A few days after the Mount Pleasant Library visit, I walked from the Eaton Centre to Ossington and Bloor, taking in three libraries along the way.

The first library I visited that day was Urban Affairs inside Metro City Hall. A blue and green banner alerted me to its presence, and I walked up a short flight of stairs into the quiet.

Judging from its silence and spaciousness, this branch was clearly more of a research than a community library (although there were lots of helpful leaflets about community events strewn about the tops of cabinets). With Urban Affair’s special Toronto Collection, microfilm machines, law and legislation section, and stacks of urban-themed magazines and journals, it reminded me of a time in my life when I was consumed with postgraduate research. (I used to spend hours in the University of Glasgow Library and other research libraries in Edinburgh, Leeds, and Cambidge when I was writing a Ph.D. thesis about Edmund Gosse’s Father and Son).

I admired Urban Affairs’ extra-wide tables, four appealing study rooms, meeting room, and the view of the busy intersection of John and Wellington. A few sleepers could be discovered face down in their papers, their breathing only mildly affecting the hush that was sometimes broken by the rustle of turning pages and the tapping of keyboards.

It was slightly disorienting to be in a Toronto library with no movie section, no ESL shelves, no storytelling schedules or librarians trying to herd patrons into a single line. The no-nonsense atmosphere didn’t encourage me to linger, but I was very sad when Urban Affairs closed in 2011. I would have liked to have had the chance to take some photographs of this serene branch.

The next two libraries I saw on my 2008 walking tour, Sanderson and College/Shaw, had very different vibes from Urban Affairs. Please click on the name-links in the previous sentence to see updated posts of these two branches!

Let me tell you about them.

Don Mills Library–lobby featured a pillow embroidery display and a potted pine, main level was a massive room with orange walls, and the basement level offered substantial reference and career section.

Flemingdon Park Library–a small room housed within a larger community centre, very warm atmosphere with distinct but not unpleasant smell of chlorine from the pool next door, every computer unit hosted an absorbed library patron, separate glassed-in room for the ESL and Literacy collection.

Burrows Hall Library–like Flemingdon Park and Saint James Town, this library is part of a community centre. The centre includes a Chinese theatre, outside of which sit two large stone lions. Near the entrance to the library was a Christmas tree and two reindeer, one big room constituted the library, a Chinese dragon tapestry decorated the south wall, high ceilings, impressive multi-lingual section. I bought three discarded books from a collection of about thirty. This library seemed new and spacious, and it was uncrowded on a Saturday afternoon.

A big warm thank you to Stewart who has been the driver and fellow library pilgrim for most of the sites described so far!

In an earlier post I described the Toronto Public Libraries east of the Don Valley Parkway that I’ve visited. Now, after a pause that heightened suspense to unbearable levels, I give you, ladies and gentlemen, the Libraries West of the Don Valley that Catherine Has Visited!
Parliament–a spacious building on two floors, very helpful staff who once gave a large group of ESL students from my center an orientation (the nerd in me thrilled when so many students got their first shiny blue library cards), large ESL section, nice high windows.

Saint James Town–this is a fairly new library which is housed in one long room, lots of computers, feels very urban, part of a community centre complex that includes a busy basketball court.

City Hall–tucked away in a small room just to the right of the main entrance to City Hall, cozy yet important, pleasantly crowded.

Lillian H. Smith— what I remember most about this library is its circular staircase leading to an upper gallery.

High Park–a beautiful building with two floors, an ideal place to daydream because of its high ceilings, huge windows, and lots of wooden tables.

Palmerston–a low-key neighborhood venue in one room, not fancy but obviously well-used and in demand.

Spadina Road–roughly the same size and shape as Palmerston, its specialty an Aboriginal Studies section with lots of books and films, every table hosted studious patrons and newspaper browsers.

Yorkville–another busy downtown library, brisk pace, features stone lions at the entrance (if I remember rightly) and an upmarket book deposit box.

Toronto Reference Library–the first library in Toronto I ever visited (as a tourist in 2001), love the fountains and design, a fun experience is to ride the glass elevator to the fifth floor facing outwards so you can see the inner canyon expand as you rise and take in the opera-stage of silent readers. Have taken numerous class trips to the fifth floor to check out the large ESL section and the amazing collection of resources in a variety of languages, one summer helped a friend edit his English translation of Persian proverbs here.

Deer Park–when we immigrated to Canada in 2002, this was the library where I received my first card just a few days after arrival (Deer Park is across the street from the building where you line up for a SIN card, also we were staying in the Annex), a spacious library on one level with high ceilings, one time I saw a tired homeless man asleep in the reclining chair that rests on the floor by a low wall separating the children’s section from the main entryway.

Leaside–an active residential branch located on the edge of a large park, one long room, family-oriented, welcoming.

Northern District–just north of Eglinton and Yonge, this large district branch library is on two levels, has large periodicals and ESL section, top floor with lots of wall space for art exhibitions, sunny from generous number of windows.

Locke–elegant stone building, graceful interior with high ceilings and lots of sunlight, visited this branch after a trip to a nearby guitar store on Yonge Street.

Barbara Frum–a few summers ago I taught at a centre near Bathurst and Lawrence and visited this library before class one time, pleasing design in butterfly shape, you go in and find two round wings to the left and right and a center staircase leading up to the second floor. Enjoyed being there on that Friday afternoon as many families were gathering up books and hustling to get ready for the Sabbath–this branch had a warm community feel to it.

North York Central–I associate this branch with another class I taught, this one near Yonge and Finch, we had a fun class trip there one afternoon. The building is very large as befits a research and reference branch and is connected to a big shopping center, has impressive collection of ESL and foreign languages materials.

Bayview–another mall branch, its modest interior a contrast to the opulence of Bayview Mall, its design was interesting though. While the branch is contained in one room, there’s a deepening of the space as you walk through it, carpeted steps bring you lower, as if the place where you first walk in the door is the tile around a large pool and the steps take you into the actual pool. Lots of carpet, an 1980’s atmosphere similar to the Maryvale and Cliffcrest branches.

Fairview–near Fairview Mall, this library had the worn-down look of district branch under pressure from so many enthusiastic library patrons. It seemed about the same age as Albert Campbell Library and shared a similar designer, this was one of the busiest libraries I’ve visited, with every chair taken, every table space utilized, its two levels humming with life — study groups, individuals in private study rooms, newspaper and magazine readers, family groups– this truly is a vibrant library. To visit it is to be inspired by all those patrons following their dreams.

For the past year or so, I have been on a delightfully nerdy quest to visit all 99 public libraries in Toronto. As of yesterday, I’ve visited 41 of them. Woo hoo!

Here’s some notes on what I remember about the libraries. I won’t be at all offended if you skim!

Agincourt — branch library, massive ESL and second language collection, super busy

Brookbanks — a quiet branch near a karate school in North York
Maryvale — inside a 1980’s mall, also in North York

Highland Creek — big windows and lots of natural light, east Scarborough

Port Union — library which is the furthest east in TPL jurisdiction

Morningside — a long, low one room library, very new, awesome window seats

Cedarbrae — near Markham and Lawrence, a huge branch library with two floors, Scarborough historical collection, massive ESL selection, also where I volunteered as a conversation circle leader for awhile and took students to get new library cards when teaching LINC in the area

Guildwood — a small, cozy branch in a strip mall, found a book on Canadian history

Cliffcrest — also a one-room branch in a southeast Scarborough strip mall

Bendale — this library sits by itself on a little grassy rise, appears as if on stilts (which I liked), arrived just a few minutes before closing

McGregor Park — a newish library, very spacious, Lawrence and Birchmount

Victoria Village — a neighbourhood branch, very busy, seemed to be at centre of lots of community activity

Kennedy and Eglinton — another crowded but cozy branch, seems constantly in use, situated between a bar that was shut down and a pharmacy

Eglinton Square — a one-room library in the mall just off the food court, lots of broad tables with folks reading the newspaper

Albert Cambell — a time capsule of 1970’s architecture and interior design, two levels, with quiet rooms for study, near Saint Clair and Birchmount

Dawes Road — situated in residential area, found a good grammar book there, one big square room with lots of shelves, near Saint Clair and Victoria Park

Taylor Memorial — near the lake, features a fireplace with armchairs, very peaceful

Main Street — a compact, attractive building, full of patrons reading and browsing

Beaches — gorgeous library with window seats and views of Kew Gardens, two levels, very uplifting space

Danforth/Coxwell — a narrow building with two levels, this was one of the first libraries I visited as a newcomer when I went to a conversation circle

Gerrard/Ashdale — this branch is on a lively street full of shops selling South Asian clothing, curry, and roasted corn, has two levels, top floor with beautiful wooden beams and a fireplace

Jones — very small, surrounded by a homey neighbourhood with large trees and houses with porches, lots of patrons there on a Saturday, appealing wooden floors

Pape/Danforth — handsome, historic building, two long narrow floors, extremely busy

Riverdale — arrived there by Broadview streetcar, nice brick building in circular shape, crowded with readers, next to Don Valley jail building

And that’s all I’ve visited east of the Don Valley Parkway. Stay riveted or at least mildly awake for a review of libraries west of the DVP.