ÿþ<html> <head> <title>mtarch.com Toronto Reference Library gets $3-million federal boost</title> </head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;"> <!-- Fireworks 4.0 Dreamweaver 4.0 target. Created Mon Feb 12 18:56:44 GMT-0500 2001--> <script language="JavaScript"> <!-- function MM_displayStatusMsg(msgStr) { //v3.0 status=msgStr; document.MM_returnValue = true; } function MM_findObj(n, d) { //v3.0 var p,i,x; if(!d) d=document; if((p=n.indexOf("?"))>0&&parent.frames.length) { d=parent.frames[n.substring(p+1)].document; n=n.substring(0,p);} if(!(x=d[n])&&d.all) x=d.all[n]; for (i=0;!x&&i<d.forms.length;i++) x=d.forms[i][n]; for(i=0;!x&&d.layers&&i<d.layers.length;i++) x=MM_findObj(n,d.layers[i].document); return x; } function MM_swapImage() { //v3.0 var i,j=0,x,a=MM_swapImage.arguments; document.MM_sr=new Array; for(i=0;i<(a.length-2);i+=3) if ((x=MM_findObj(a[i]))!=null){document.MM_sr[j++]=x; if(!x.oSrc) x.oSrc=x.src; x.src=a[i+2];} } function MM_swapImgRestore() { //v3.0 var i,x,a=document.MM_sr; for(i=0;a&&i<a.length&&(x=a[i])&&x.oSrc;i++) x.src=x.oSrc; } function MM_preloadImages() { //v3.0 var d=document; if(d.images){ if(!d.MM_p) d.MM_p=new Array(); var i,j=d.MM_p.length,a=MM_preloadImages.arguments; for(i=0; i<a.length; i++) if (a[i].indexOf("#")!=0){ d.MM_p[j]=new Image; d.MM_p[j++].src=a[i];}} } //--> </script> <body bgcolor=white> <CENTER> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <!Box 1 - Blank Top - 720 wide x 10 high> <td width=720 height=10 colspan=7> </td> </tr> <tr> <!Box 2 - Blank Left Side - 10 wide x 490 high> <td width=10 height=490 rowspan=6> </td> <!Box 3 - Header - 700 wide x 20 high> <td td width=700 height=20 colspan=5 valign=top> <img src="tgam.gif" border="0"> </td> <!Box 4 - Blank Right Side - 10 wide x 490 high> <td width=10 height=490 rowspan=6> </td> </tr> <tr> <!Box 5 - Secondary Menu - 700 wide x 20 high> <td width=700 height=20 colspan=5 valign=top> </td> </tr> <tr> <!Box 6 - Title - 700 wide x 30 high> <td width=700 height=30 colspan=5 valign=top> <p style="font : 10pt arial"><B>Toronto Reference Library gets $3-million federal boost</B> <p style="font : 8pt arial"><B>Prime Minister provides stimulus funding for one of the  world's great public libraries'</B> </td> </tr> <tr> <!Box 7 - Blank Horizontal - 700 wide x 10 high> <td width=700 height=10 colspan=5> </td> </tr> <tr> <!Box 8 - Pictures or Text - 700 wide x 380 high> <td width=700 height=380 valign=top> <p style="font : 8pt arial"> by BRODIE FENLON <p style="font : 8pt arial"> October 16, 2009 <p style="font : 8pt arial">Prime Minister Stephen Harper could have easily been eclipsed by his photo-op surroundings were it not for a cordon of black curtains and blue signs promoting "Canada's economic action plan." <p style="font : 8pt arial">There to announce a $3-million stimulus grant, the PM stood in the centre of a new 16,800-square-foot, natural light-filled "salon" designed by Moriyama & Teshima Architects, replete with sleek wood-slat panelling, high-definition televisions, two outdoor terraces, full catering kitchens and a wall-mounted garden. <p style="font : 8pt arial">In Toronto, they call it the library. <p style="font : 8pt arial">The Toronto Reference Library, to be precise, the heart of a 99-branch public system that has become the world's busiest on a per-capita basis, with 16 million visitors each year, another 21 million virtual visits, and an annual circulation of 30 million items. Only the Hong Kong library system, serving three times the population, is busier. <p style="font : 8pt arial">"The Toronto Public Library ranks with the world's great public libraries, and yet it's different and personal for every user who walks in or clicks in," said Wendy Newman, a senior fellow at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information. <p style="font : 8pt arial">Despite daily predictions of the death of print, Toronto's library system has thrived in the digital age, finding its niche where technology, people and conversation intersect. <p style="font : 8pt arial">It has helped that Toronto is a "city of readers," with a healthy newspaper market and strong bookstore sector, said head librarian Jane Pyper. <p style="font : 8pt arial">The TPL has also catered to the city's surging population of immigrants, who find in its branches a safe place for their children, free access to technology, job-search resources in their own language, even a bit of quiet from what is often a full household, Ms. Pyper said. <p style="font : 8pt arial">But the TPL has also been quick to embrace technological change, from its online reservations and self-service checkout to the addition of e-books. By year's end, all branches will have wireless Internet access and double the bandwidth. <p style="font : 8pt arial">"There's a phenomenon where information goes digital and at the same time people come together," Ms. Pyper said. "Information begets conversation which begets learning which begets more information." <p style="font : 8pt arial">First-class architectural renovations, like the addition Mr. Harper visited, have also been warmly received by the public. "Those libraries have the 'wow' factor," Ms. Newman said. "What the Toronto Public Library does is square great design with use." <p style="font : 8pt arial">Matthew Church, chair of the library board, traces the TPL's success to the 1998 amalgamation of the six Toronto municipalities and Metro Toronto, which forced the merger of seven library boards. "It was a real opportunity that was seized to actually look at what a library is and does," he said. <p style="font : 8pt arial">The forced marriage resulted in a single catalogue, which boosted circulation immediately, Ms. Pyper said. It also gave the TPL a robust inventory of established branches. <p style="font : 8pt arial">Above all else, Ms. Newman said, the library's services and strategic plans are  deeply rooted in community. In the end, she said,  it really is about the people. <P><IMG SRC="CTVglobemedia120x19.png"> <p style="font : 7pt arial">© Copyright 2009 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. <BR>globeandmail.com and The Globe and Mail are divisions of CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc., 444 Front St. W., Toronto, ON  Canada M5V 2S9( <BR>Phillip Crawley, Publisher </td> </tr> <tr> <!Box 13 - Navigation - 700 wide x 30 high> <td width=700 height=30 colspan=5 valign=middle> </td> </tr> </table> </CENTER> </body> </html>