Toronto’s greatest indoor public space is celebrating its 30th Anniversary tomorrow (Friday Nov. 2) with a day long program of events. Two years ago in a Stroll column I wrote, in part, “If the city had a brain, the Toronto Reference Library would be it. It’s big, public and one of the few places where all types can bump into each other. Men in suits read statistics near the guy who waves his arms and reads to himself aloud, consumed by madness and Heidegger.”
The upcoming issue of Spacing will also include an article by regular contributor Ryan Bigge on how this building seems to get better as it ages, and how important it is to Toronto. This big giant room is open and free — architecturally, intellectually and monetarily — and is one of the best non-university-affiliated research libraries in the world. For others, it’s simply a good place to read the paper or even take nap.
We will also be launching four new [murmur] sites tomorrow that will let you hear longtime users of this library talk about why this place is important to them. The locations are: the main entrance, the picture collection, the Baldwin Room and the Arthur Conan Doyle Room. Over the last few months I’ve met writers, artists, scholars, librarians and local historians and listened them speak passionately about this place, reinforcing my feeling that this is my favorite place in Toronto.
If it was only possible to measure the value this building has added to Toronto we might be able to appreciate it in more tangible terms. The city would be a lesser place without it, no doubt.
From the TRL:
The celebration begins at 10:30 a.m., when Breakfast Television host Kevin Frankish, Mayor David Miller and architects Raymond and Ajon Moriyama will kick off a full day of events, including a performance by author Paul Quarrington’s band the Porkbelly Futures, readings by former writers-in-residence Austin Clarke, Russell Smith and Ken McGoogan, poetry readings, music, artist demonstrations, library tours, workshops and more (see below for a full schedule).
At the event, the library will also launch Your Stories, a collection of first-person narratives about the library’s role in the lives of Torontonians. From musicians composing on the pianos in the library’s practice room to authors finding inspiration in the picture collections to newcomers studying and socializing in the language labs, Your Stories showcases the diversity of the library’s services, and of the people who use them. For more information, visit here and click on Your Stories.
Program:
10.30 a.m. Main Event:
Mayor David Miller, architects Raymond and Ajon Moriyama
MC Kevin Frankish, Citytv
Music by the Porkbelly Futures
Coffee and cake
12.30 p.m. Author Readings: Russell Smith, Austin Clarke, Ken McGoogan
1.00 p.m . Ellen Roseman with business advice
1.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Art Before your Eyes: Watch graphic artists do their thing
1-2 Barbara Reid
2-3 Gerard Gauci
3-4 Muriel Wood
4-5 Laurie McGaw
2.00 p.m. Poetry in the Pit: Ricardo Sternberg, Margaret Christakos, Albert F. Moritz
2.30 p.m. Joe Fiorito, Toronto Star columnist
2.30 p.m. Music on the 5th floor
3.00 p.m. Meditation Workshop
4.00 p.m. Music on the 5th
5.00 p.m. Music in the atrium
All day: Special Collections tours of Collected Works: A Public Legacy
More information, visit http://www.fiftymilesofideas.ca.
One comment
Given the rash of new downtown libraries in other cities, it is important to look back on the TFL as a trendsetter. It may today lack the architectural flash of later libraries in Vancouver, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, Nashville, etc. but they all owe it a big debt. Toronto showed how to make a big, modern, central library work for the public in a city not named New York.