In the past, the future was always bright. Above is a small book found in the Toronto Collection at the Reference Library from January 1972 called Development of Toronto. The city had about twenty years of post-war growth by this point, with a lot more planned. It's an of-the-moment boosterish look at Toronto just before […]
This week I'll make a series of posts on some of the bits and bobs (and books) that can be found in the Toronto Reference Library's great Toronto Collection. These are all open shelf — you can browse on the 2nd floor, and discover things you didn't think you were looking for. Sometimes what appear […]
The Toronto Library's youryongestreet project has been up and running for just over two months now and stories and other items are beginning to fill up the empty expanses along the map. As I wrote in the Toronto Star in October of Yonge: It’s quintessentially Toronto and representative of nearly every architectural style, shape, and […]
On Monday the Toronto Reference Library hosted 300 engaged Torontonians for an Idea Jam. To get the brainstorming going there were three short presentations first. The City of Toronto's chief planner, Jennifer Keesmaat, presented the Avenues Plan; Artscape's Seema Jethalal discussed how to use the arts to access, engage, and empower Toronto's diversve population; and […]
Our current mayor has lost his radio show, and though his was controversial, it wasn't the first time a mayor has taken regularly to the airwaves. Deep in the reference library Toronto Collection stacks I found this neatly bound collection of transcripts from Mayor Nathan Phillips's radio addresses to Toronto. Like Mayor Ford, Mayor Phillips […]
Last week our final stroll this fall left from reference library mothership in Yorkville. A night walk through the sparkling city, the idea was to see the mix in Yorkville and pass through some of its passageways. Like the wanderer can famously do in Paris or Edinburgh, we can pass through Yorkville not just on […]
Tomorrow (Wed Nov 12th) is the last of our Toronto walks. We went from bare-ankle walking to winter coats. The seasons move fast. Meet us at the reference library front entrance at 7PM for a meander through Yorkville's passageways. Two weeks ago we began a Saturday afternoon Scarborough walk at the Bendale branch of TPL. […]
Part of my role as writer in residence is meeting with people to discuss their writing about the city (any city, though the GTA comes up the most, and non-fiction is the focus). There's still time to get your submission in (don't be shy). Yesterday I met with Jamal Uddin to discuss some of his […]
Walking the city, exploring, is one way to understand this city we live in, but we can do the same in the library. The miles of aisles at the Toronto Reference Library reveal a lot about this place. The second floor, with the urban affairs collection (which was once at Metro Hall) is great for […]
Last week as part of our Writer in Residence Toronto walks a nice group met up at the Fairview branch for a walk around the Toronto Peanut (come along on our next walk this Saturday starting at the Bendale branch). Few cities have their own peanut, and ours is quite big, but perhaps not what […]