Thy Friendly Neighbourhood Library
Hangout – it brings us pictures of restaurants, pubs, parks and of course, malls. But there is one more place which we can add to this list, which happens to be our friendly neighborhood library. Let me tell you about the Toronto Public Libraries.
Libraries have been part of almost all our growing years, event though it meant those smallish rooms with bound books smelling of sulphur. I can still remember those days I spent reading superman and batman comics, and then moving on to more mature stuff like Hardy Boys and Sidney Sheldon. Well, you can relive those days even today, and have a cool place to hangout at the same time!
Let me tell you about the Toronto Public Library closest to me – the York Woods branch. Its a neat little building, with huge glass windows and an attached theater (where actors perform on a stage). The library has automatic doors…weee!! so that you can leave with your hands full of books. You are met by a friendly librarian, who sets you up quite fast. Did I tell you borrowing books is completely free?!
Once you get your card, you can go in and start browsing. Like any self respecting library, this one has categories too. They have books and periodicals of various languages too. Imagine my surprise when I found Kumudam and Kalki here. They also have a good collection of hindi and tamil movie DVDs. Coming to books, they have all the usual categories of fiction, self-help, cookery, educational and many more. Kids have an entire section to themselves, stocked with science books, encyclopedias and of course, colorful story books.
The library has a few computers too, all connected to the internet. Those wishing to study, can enjoy the comfort of the huge sofas in the reading section. The library has photocopiers and printers too. I barely notice all these, when there is this huge stack of superman comics in front of me. And I didn’t know Asterix came in this cool, hard-bound avatar. (Puff puff) Catch ya later. Have to carry this ‘heavier than schoolbag’ bundle of books home.