Do you wanna build a playground? It doesn't have to be a playground. Pape Park on Gerrard (1986). Do you want to improve your outdoor environment? Maybe you see a neighbour doing it and think, "Yes, me too!" But how do you get started and does it cost much? Is building a playground a […]
Toronto Public Library’s Special Collections are home to some of the most dynamic and well-made proponents of print and book culture. If you have an interest in design, typography, or history, chances are something in the Private Press and Fine Printing Collection will capture your curiosity. Wood type in a type case, from my personal […]
On May 17, 1990, the World Health Organization decided to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. In 2004, the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (sometimes abbreviated as IDAHOT) was established as May 17, every year, in recognition of this historic date. The goal of IDAHOT is to draw attention to the discrimination still […]
The nerdiest day on the calendar has to be Star Wars Day! Every year on May 4, Star Wars fans around the world celebrate their love for a galaxy far, far away. As a librarian and a Star Wars fan, I can't think of a better way to mark the occasion than by mining the […]
The 93rd Academy Awards will be televised on April 25, 2021. This year's Oscars will definitely be different. For many, that's a good thing. After years of criticism, this year's nominees are the most diverse to date. There are many firsts: Steven Yuen is the first Asian-American’to be nominated for Best Actor Chloé Zhao is […]
Last week, the Indigenous arts community lost an incredible Ojibway artist, named Samuel Ash (1951 – 2021). Ash became Deaf at a young age and was raised by foster paren’ts in Umfreville, Ontario. He learned how to read and write at the "Ontario School for the Deaf in Belleville (now The Sir James Whitney School […]
Do you make to-do lists? Have you ever made a “to-read” list? One of our frequent visitors to Toronto Public Library’s Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books has a “to-read” list that is very long… 1,001 books long! Allow us to introduce you to David Cohen and his incredible reading journey. Entrance to Lillian H. […]
In 1926, a bear named Winnie-the-Pooh walked out of the Hundred Acre Wood and into readers' hearts. But Winnie’s story began in Canada more than a decade before A. A. Milne published his first Winnie-the-Pooh book. Since the book’s publication, generations of readers around the world have enjoyed Winnie’s adventures. Our Osborne Collection of Early […]
Did you know that April 5 is First Contact Day? Probably not because it hasn't actually happened yet! Technically, it won't happen until 2063. In the Star Trek universe, First Contact Day celebrates the first time that humans have contact with an alien race. Humanity's first successful attempt at achieving warp drive attracts the attention […]
Hello! I am Emily White, a conservator at Toronto Public Library. In September 2020, I started the conservation treatment of a series of new drawings in our Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books. Here I am in Toronto Reference Library's conservation lab working on the project. The drawings In 2019, Toronto Public Library acquired […]