Guest Post From An Enthusiastic TPL Fan
Five years
ago, I started a project of visiting all 99 (now 98) Toronto Public Libraries
and writing about them in a blog called Breakfast in Scarborough. As a frequent library user and devoted fan, I am happy to
write a guest post that assesses TPL’s service delivery.
Starting
with the positive, TPL does an exemplary job of making its services accessible
to diverse patrons from all over the GTA. When I visited the Ward’s Island and
Queen’s Quay bookmobile stops, branches in Scarborough malls, downtown
libraries, and quiet residential branches in Etobicoke, I marvelled at the
breadth of TPL’s multilingual offerings as well as the depth of its general
collections for children, teens, and adults. The library also offers services
for patrons with disabilities, such as Sign Language provision, CCTV print magnifiers,
and a Mobile Library Service for people with mobility difficulties.
Second, TPL
scores high on their programs. Over the past two years, I have visited the Textile
Museum of Canada on a MAP pass,
taken a poetry workshop,
experienced Gaga dance,
learned about Rumi,
listened to survivor testimonies during Holocaust Education Week, and heard stories from the Carribean. All for free!
My final
point of praise is for the “scope for the imagination” (à la Anne of Green Gables) that our city’s library spaces provide. In our
hyper-commercialized modern world, we need
nourishment for our creativity, such as a window seat in the sun at Malvern Branch or a minstrel’s gallery at Wychwood that call out for dreamers to
inhabit them. And when I see an ark at Fairview, a stained glass window at
Taylor Memorial, a woolen castle at Deer Park, or a magical stairway at Lillian
H. Smith, I am transported from everyday concerns and encouraged to be
fanciful. I’m so glad that Toronto’s lucky kids have the opportunity to read
inside a castle turret at Malvern, play in a riverboat at Cedarbrae, or do
their homework in a historic attic like Main Street’s.
Positive
aspects far outnumber the negative. However, if I had to pick a few areas for
TPL to improve, they would include certain bureaucratic tendencies that
generate a bewildering array of paperwork and inhibit staff from making
decisions independently of their branch heads.
For
example, when I’ve made requests to take photographs of the libraries,
especially when my blog wasn’t very well known within the system, I’ve been met
with lots of “I’ll have to talk to my supervisor” and presented with a variety
of permission forms. Often there was confusion over the right form for me to
fill out, which meant lots of time wasted while I was itching to get on with my
work.
Truthfully,
I haven’t minded the permission-form hassle nearly as much as the handful of
times that staff treated my project with outright mistrust and suspicion. It
has been irritating to be officiously informed, “You do know you cannot take
pictures of patrons in the library!” when I have faithfully respected this rule
for five years. I understand that legitimate privacy concerns exist, but I’d
like to be given a little credit for not being an insensitive oaf.
What are my
suggestions for a system that’s already committed to accessibility, cultural
enrichment, and creativity? Keep doing the impressive work that endears you to
Torontonians but add a greater degree of friendly flexibility to avoid becoming
an impersonal monolith of officiousness. Long may you prosper!
14 thoughts on “Guest Post From An Enthusiastic TPL Fan”
Nail on the head:
“However, if I had to pick a few areas for TPL to improve, they would include certain bureaucratic tendencies that generate a bewildering array of paperwork and inhibit staff from making decisions independently of their branch heads.”
This could be a criticism of any organization once it grows large enough.
Yes, I think it is difficult for any organization as large as TPL to keep bureaucracy from emerging. Thank you so much for your comment!
Correction: the accent is on the wrong word “a la Anne of Green Gables.” This might make my former French teacher sigh.
Nice post, Catherine.
I understand where you are coming from re: bureaucracy, but I also think that the library tries to apply library policies consistently (or as consistently as possible) across the system. That way, they can hopefully avoid discriminatory and otherwise unfair behaviors from emerging.
Sorry to say this, but it does slightly comfort me that you’ve have issues taking pictures in the library. After all, that particular action is spelled out in the Rules of Conduct, and I am glad that they are not singling out certain individuals by not approaching all picture-takers fairly.
As alluded to above this post, without bureaucracy I think there would just be chaos and more unfair practices.
Just my humble opinion. Sometimes if we take a step back and think it over, things make more sense 🙂
I appreciate your comment and hear what you’re saying about the importance of being consistent with rules. I know I would not like it if some random person was taking pictures of me in the library or other public place without permission.
I don’t really share your experience about TPL being bureaucratic, they were very supportive of an effort to promote library services via the free, no-advertisement smartphone app I developed.
http://www.layar.com/layers/catopublib
If anyone else is planning to visit different branches in the system (as I often do), it’s kind of handy! Install the Layar mobile app on your smartphone for GPS directions, hours of operation and a branch photo!
1. Install Layar GPS app.
2. Search ‘TPL’
3. Pan phone around you for interactive, real-time directions.
That’s awesome, B. Sutherland!
I should also add that I didn’t find the system bureaucratic every time I went. I’m glad that you didn’t find it bureaucratic at all.
I often make use of my local Flemingdon Park branch of the Toronto Public Library and while I am usually pleased with the service I receive there, I must comment with your statement that:
“Starting with the positive, TPL does an exemplary job of making its services accessible to diverse patrons from all over the GTA.”
While checking out books this afternoon, I witnessed a boy of about 9 ask for paper and pencils from one of the librarians. She asked “what do you want them for?” and he made a motion of writing with his hands. She then responded with: “Use ENGLISH. What are you going to do with them?”
I get that the librarians in my branch often supervise children who may not be accompanied by paren’ts and that this can be taxing on them. However, this sort of condescension is completely unacceptable. The boy was communicating a need and it should have been met with compassion, not condescension.
In general, I do think that the TPL does an “exemplary job of making its services accessible to diverse patrons” but perhaps it should remind some of its employees, especially those working with children from diverse backgrounds, that it is their job to provide assistance when trying to learn, not shame.
Thank you for your comment. When I wrote about accessible services and diversity, I was mainly thinking in terms of the large number of branches and impressive multilingual collections. However, I agree with you that what makes the services accessible is the people who work with the public. It makes me sad to think that the young patron who was not treated very respectfully might not want to return to the library because of the unwelcoming attitude he experienced. (For goodness sake, if a child asks for paper and pencils, the best response is to hand them over with a smile!)
I can’t speak for the TPL system because I don’t work for them, but I think it would like to know about the unfortunate scene you observed. Would you like me to forward your comment to someone in the communications department? I’d be glad to do so.
Please, please ignore Joe Clark, a vicious misogynist reviled in his own community, and now evidently an Islamophobe of the first water as well. He speaks for no one.
Thank you for your support!
Another vote here for letting that kind of criticism roll off of you. It’s worth as much as the person offering it, nothing.
Thank you Joshua! Taking this advice to heart.
A be-lated comment re:impressive multilingual collections.These generalities reveal a superficial and shallow assessment.Many of non-English language collections are poor with gaps,and therefore low use.Some statistics of the use of some collections, would have been more credible.