Last week Scarborough seniors gathered for an afternoon of creative writing and thoughtful discussion. Scarborough Arts launched their first Scarborough Seniors Write workshop on Sept. 26 at the Kennedy/Eglinton Toronto Public Library. Every week they work on developing their creative writing, poetry, story sharing and digital media skills.
An all-digital library would erase the need for print editions of books and magazines, therefore erasing the amount of paper wasted on hard-copy reading material. Those trees could be saved.
According to last year’s statistics, 1.1 million people borrowed electronic books from the Toronto Public Library. Compare that to the 32 million traditional printed books borrowed and you can see the number is substantially smaller.
They’re small and really tough to see. But they’re a big problem. “One is too many,” said Patricia Eastman of the Toronto Public Library (TPL). Bed bugs were reported at the Cedarbrae and Kennedy-Eglinton libraries in the last month. According to Eastman, area manager for both locations, the TPL system takes all reported incidents seriously.
“Shakespeare has always been something of a mystery to young people and seems to overwhelm with the stories and language,” Michael Kelly said, “so I wanted to steer that type of thinking into something helpful.”
The Toronto Public Library has just found a new source of revenue. Now in partnership with Indigo, the bookseller, the TPL has implemented a new system that allows its patrons to buy the same books they’re looking to borrow. Visitors searching for books on the site will see the option to ‘Buy your own copy,’ which will redirect them to Indigo’s webpage.
The Toronto Public Library in collaboration with the Toronto Business Development Centre and the city of Toronto offers the eight-week program called Business Inc. designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs develop their businesses.
The National Film Board Film Club screened one of its films Tuesday night at Agincourt Library in Scarborough, Ont. The film, entitled Who Cares, is one of a series of films the NFB plans to screen at the Toronto Public Library.
Georgia Selby likes to draw. She’s even has her eye on having a drawing recognized in a nationwide competition. “I might draw a penguin on top of a world for the contest,” she said. “And my story is going to be on the summer Olympic Games.” Georgia, 8, recently attended a workshop at a branch of the Toronto Public Library. In small groups the children sharpened coloured pencils and put their creative abilities to the test. Also attending the workshop were some of Canada’s top athletes, some award-winning illustrators and representatives from the Pan American Games organizing committee in Toronto (TO2015).
The journey began with a poster and a dare for Alexandra Hackett. “My friend and I went to town on a Saturday and there was a big, free event for the young people,” she said. “And that’s where we saw the poster.” It depicted a boy and girl serving in the army. With the words ‘Join the army. See the world,’ written across the picture.