Below is my report for the April 2019 Toronto Public Library (TPL) Board meeting, summarizing key activities in support of the priorities outlined in our strategic plan. This report covers items that are not part of the Board agenda package. Advancing Our Digital Platforms Second Union Station Digital Download Kiosk Installed We are thrilled to […]
April 21st is the United Nation's World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID). It is a day designated to encourage creative thought and expression, as well as remembering innovations throughout our lifetime. Creativity is an important aspect of our society. It keeps us moving forward through new ideas and inventions that solve problems in our society. […]
“It is an appalling reality that, during the first five years of World War II, 36,000 Canadians died of TB, while 38,000 Canadians were killed by enemy action.” — Saturday Night newspaper, quoted in Katherine McCuaig's The Weariness, the Fever and the Fret Tuberculosis (TB) used to impact a huge number of Ontarians. It's hard to even imagine […]
Valerie has every book-lover's dream job: she coordinates the selection of print books for adults at Toronto Public Library. In other words, she and her team of selectors investigate nearly every book that we order. (It's a lot of work – you can hear her talk about how they do it on this podcast). This […]
From April 22 to June 29, Toronto Public Library welcomes Broti Kar, our spring Environmentalist in Residence (EnvIR) presented as part of the Our Fragile Planet program series! Broti is an Ontario certified teacher and a graduate of the Environmental Studies program from York University. She has over six years of experience working in environmental education with prominent environmental […]
Did you know that Toronto Public Library has art exhibit and public display space at 16 branches for you? Artists can submit their work for possible exhibition during the September 2019 to August 2020 season, until the submission deadline of April 26, 2019. A committee will consider works prepared for hanging in all media […]
Toronto city directories are invaluable for researching local history, genealogy and other topics. Now, for the first time, there is an online guide – Places in Digital Toronto City Directories, 1837-1969 – to help researchers quickly find directory information about more than 100 former hamlets, villages, small towns, townships and boroughs that now are part of […]
April is National Poetry Month, and what better way to celebrate with your child than by exploring some of the poetry books available at the library! Reading poetry aloud can be a wonderful experience for children, exposing them to the patterns and rhythms of language. Poetry can’take unexpected twists and turns, and the novel language […]
We have 19 volunteers in our Youth Advisory Group (YAG) at Northern District, and most of us have joined in the past six months. It was a good way to get to know each other as we debated and negotiated to come up with these excellent recommendations. Our top book recommendations: Fierce: How Competing […]
Toronto Argo Jim Dillard catches up on his reading, 1968. Toronto Star Photograph Archive. Unwinding, relieving stress and decompressing are essential to a happy and healthy life. We all have favourite books, movies and music which are like a comfortable blanket, familiar friend or pair of pajamas when we need it the most. What do you choose […]