Image credit: Roberto Baca
Our public libraries are the busiest in the world: 30 million items were loaned out at our 99 branches last year. And, despite the many predictions of the death of print, the object of our affection grows and grows. The Toronto Reference Library, the exquisite centre of the TPL universe, recently started a $30-million renovation that will add a soaring glass entrance, a 600-seat event space, and a gift shop with more of those hipster-endorsed TPL bookbags. It’s all part of a plan to turn the library into a gathering place—for meet-the-author sessions, language classes, movie screenings and town halls. Not that they’re hurting for attendance. As this recession deepens, librarians have noticed a surge in users. Some were reading up on how to switch careers. Some were using computers to look for jobs. Some were just discovering the brilliance of free books.
—Chris Bucci
Toronto Life