Confession: I have been a serially lover of
libraries.
As a child I was a prodigious user of the
Carnegie Library in my hometown of Peterborough, Ontario. The children’s section was on the top floor
of the handsome red-brick structure and that’s where I first encountered the
pig of all pigs. I would dash in to the room (quietly), grab my allotment of
two Freddys off the shelves, get them stamped and carded, and bike home as fast
as I could, to begin reading.
In high school, my chums and I would feel
very sophisticated as we did our homework in the carrels at the Bata Library at
Trent University; a gorgeous building perched on the banks of the Otonabee
River. (Our high school library was a bit too juvenile, we sniffed.)
At The University of Toronto there were
various college libraries to love, ranging from an ancient, Hogwarts-style one
at Knox College to the brutalist but easily-navigated Robarts Library.
Toronto’s Children’s Library is where I
first learned (back in the 1980s) that the Freddy series was out of print.
And up north, I’ve been associated with the
tiny library in the village of Buckhorn, a vital hub of learning and reading
for an entire community.
Each one of those libraries was my
favourite when I was using it. I’ve
loved them all, loved them well, and we always parted on good terms .
But I am going to tell you about my most
recent favourite, the London (Ontario) Library’s Central branch. London is a
couple hours west of the acknowledged centre of the Canadian universe
(Toronto), a pleasant mid-sized city of about 375,000. Something in the city’s
water produces entertainers – Hume Cronyn, Victor Garber, Ryan Gosling, Guy
Lombardo and Rachel MacAdams all hail from there. Frederick Banting, the discoverer of Insulin
lived in London. The city’s nickname is ‘The Forest City’ and there are lovely
old shaded streets, lined with gracious homes. There’s a well-respected
university (University of Western Ontario) and some fine hospitals.
It’s not all sweetness and light. The city
has lost some of its industrial base in recent years and the downtown is a
nightmare of bad urban planning. Many beautiful old retail buildings have been
torn down, and a lot of the commercial base has disappeared. Sitting in the
centre of it all, like a forgotten hole in a retail donut, was a deserted
1970s-era Galleria Mall. Which brings me neatly to My Favourite Library.
When the retail vanished, the library moved
into the mall, taking over the space formerly occupied by the department store
anchor. A clever restoration in 2002 opened up the department store and now
there are four magic floors of books and activity, connected by escalators
travelling up the centre.
Libraries have changed. The stern, shushing
madam librarians of my childhood have been replaced with helpful, smiling and
caring employees. An incredible variety of Londoners use the Central Branch –
from job seekers on computers to professors researching to community groups to,
of course, to book lovers. The London library is a pioneer in innovative
activities including:
·
A Women’s health group that
meets regularly with a public health nurse
·
Abraham’s Café – an ongoing
program for discussing faith and religious topics, with panels and
representatives from Islam, Judaism and Christianity
·
Annual Book Camp – a literary
day camp for children in the summer
·
Gadget clinics – people bring
in their new handheld devices, tablets and e-readers, and get help from staff
about how to actually use them
·
A film festival and concerts
I had the privilege of being the Writer in
Residence at the Central Branch one year. (The fact that the library even has a
writer in residence should shoot it up to the top of the list of Favourite
libraries.) Part of my job was to talk with writers and user-groups, and stage
readings of plays. I was given a little office just behind the Harlequin
romances, a vantage point from which I discreetly studied that fascinating
species of book lover, the romanticus
furtivus. (Because you would be very surprised who sneaks up to the
Harlequin section for a romance quickie between the covers.)
Alas, my office was two floors away from
the Children’s library, which is home to a complete collection of Overlook Freddys. But I would ride the escalator down and
admire them.
If you are in London - and why wouldn’t you be - take a look at what
a creative urban library can do in animating a city’s downtown. Admire their
full complement of Freddys. And join me in voting for the London Library’s
Central Branch as Favourite Library!
-
Dave Carley
