Pablo Picasso called him “the Leonardo of our time.” Among his inventions: a machine to wag tails of lazy dogs (never built). A chair “for very short visits” with a seat at a 45-degree angle (built, beautifully). A children’s bed combining a cockpit with a jungle gym. A beautiful half-clock/half-sculpture, mass-produced so everyone could have […]
Detail from The Cat Scouts, by Jessie Pope, illustrated by Louis Wain. Approximately 1916. Tricksters. Familiars. Helpers. Criminals. Suburban dads. Fluffy little babies. Hiss-torically, cats have played every pawsible role in children’s books. Our new exhibit, Adventures in Catland, runs from August 2 to October 14, 2022 at the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books (located […]
From the Epic of Gilgamesh to The Little Mermaid, storytellers have always found adventure and enchantment in the ocean. In the Osborne Collection's spring exhibit, All at Sea: Pirates, Merfolk and Sea Creatures in Children's Books, you can set sail for Treasure Island, encounter terrifying (and friendly) sea serpents, and explore the seashore with Victorian […]
First things first, Thanks, Obama! The 44th U. S. President's much-lauded memoir was our top-circulating book this year, based on an aggregated list of print books, ebooks and audiobooks. (It's the third year in a row that an Obama has topped our list — more on that below.) This year's list also reaffirmed Torontonians' fondness […]
Your library card gives you access to several streaming video options, from BBC classic movies to kids’ cartoons to meditation videos. Today, we’re looking at some of the feature films available on Hoopla. What is Hoopla? Hoopla is a platform that we subscribe to for digital movies, music and comics. You can access up to […]
If you're a professional in the fields of marketing, accounting, HR , finance, business strategy or management, you're in luck. Your library card now gives you access to two new online resources for business research: Business Source Complete, and home access to CARDonline. Business Source Complete Stay on top of the latest business research. Business […]
What counts as a genre? The Oxford English Dictionary says it's a type of literary work characterized by a particular form, style, or purpose — which is pretty broad. Is poetry a genre? Aristotle says yes. How about Erotic Hockey Romance? We say yes. The fun thing about this category is that it opens up […]
If you have an older Apple device such as an iPad, iPhone or Macbook (running the operating system iOS 9 or earlier), you might be getting error messages when you try to use the OverDrive website, the OverDrive app or the Libby app: Here’s why: After September 30, 2021, the web certificate provider Let’s Encrypt […]
Looking for in-depth, up-to-date business and finance news? You’re in luck! The digital edition of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is now available, in English, Chinese and Japanese, with your library card or Digital Access Card. How to get it There are two ways you can access the Wall Street Journal: on a library computer […]
Valerie and her team of selectors evaluate about 400 adult print books per week for Toronto Public Library. So when she says she's excited about a new book, we listen. Here are her picks for fall, 2021. If you’ve ever idly wondered what writers would do with their time if they ever found themselves forcibly […]