What's On at the Library

History Matters--The Making of Dufferin-St.Clair: 1900-1929

The popular History Matters series continues with a talk on the making of the Dufferin-St.Clair area in the first decades of the 20th century. The lecture takes place at the Dufferin/St.Clair branch, tonight, Thursday, at 7 pm. 

This neighbourhood, long known as Earlscourt, was settled by labourers mostly from the British Isles. They worked in the local factories and built meagre houses for themselves and their families, often little more than shacks. Our guest speaker, Professor Richard Harris of McMaster University and author of  Unplanned Suburbs: Toronto's American Tragedy takes a look at the movements and lives of these of blue-collar workers during this period.

The History Matters lecture series is a great way to connect with local historians, and these talks have brought the history of many Toronto neighbourhoods to life. If you are curious about the city and its neighbourhoods, Toronto Public Library is a great place to start. For example, check out St. Clair West in Pictures (and don't forget to click on the nifty interactive map, St. Clair West Then and Now). Most TPL branches have wonderful, easy to use local history collections. Click here to begin your exploration of  Dufferin/St. Clair's.

We thank The History Education Network (THEN/Hier) for their generous assistance in making this series possible. To see podcasts of previous lectures, please go to activehistory.ca

 

Stuart Clark's Vast Canvas

The extraordinary thing about Toronto Public Library, is that on any given day, you can go to a library branch and hear and meet and talk with remarkable and well-known authors as they discuss a new book or some breathtaking new idea or direction in research.

Widely read and acclaimed astronomy journalist Stuart Clark is visiting Canada this week to promote his new book The Sky's Dark Labyrinth and tomorrow, October 19,  7 pm, he will be at the Runnymede Branch. The Sky's Dark Labyrinth, the first in a trilogy, tells the story of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, two men trapped by human ignorance and irrational terror in one of the darkest, yet also enlightening periods of European history.

Simon Wallace, www.meltingpotpictures.co.uk

Clark, who usually writes non-fiction, has devoted his career to presenting the complex world of astronomy to the general public. Many of his books are in TPL collections.

 

To place holds, click on bookcovers

This is a great opportunity for all those who love and are intrigued by science, history and literature. Stuart Clark holds a first class honours degree and a PhD in astrophysics and he is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Back in 2000, the UK daily newspaper The Independent placed him alongside Stephen Hawking and the Astronomer Royal, Professor Sir Martin Rees, as one of the "stars" of British astrophysics teaching. For more information, visit Stuart Clark's website: http://www.stuartclark.com/.  

  

 

 

From Johannes Kepler to Black Holes: Science Talks @ TPL

This fall at branches across the city, we have put together a fabulous array of science-related programs, all part of the Thought Exchange programs.

If pseudoscience and predictions that the world will end 2012 make you grit your teeth, we have the antidote. It is 2012: From Garbled Science to Death From the Skies!  in which Kelly Lepo takes on ... the end of the Mayan Calendar! Galactic alignment! Mysterious planets! Deadly solar radiation! Geomagnetic reversal! ... and other popular doomsday scenarios that claim the end is nigh. Kelly Lepo's cross-city tour begins on October 19, 6:30 pm at the Danforth Coxwell Branch.

Also on October 19,  the Runnymede Branch is hosting acclaimed science writer Stuart Clark, who is in town promoting his new book, The Sky's Dark Labyrinth. Clark, who usually writes non-fiction, has devoted his career to presenting the complex world of astronomy to the general public. Many of his books are in TPL collections.

The Sky's Dark Labyrinth, the first in a trilogy, tells the story of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, two men trapped by human ignorance and irrational terror in one of the darkest, yet also enlightening periods of European history.

On October 19, at the Mimico Branch Linda Tu presents Recent Advances in the Sciences, a three-part series (all talks start at 6:30). She starts with the cosmos then zeroes in on planet earth (October 26) and wraps up with a look at some frontiers in understanding how humans tick (November 2).

In November, we have two more talks that will intrigue and delight. Adam Atkinson delivers the goods on Astrobiology at North York Central on November 2, 7 pm. And on November 17, 7 pm, at the Gerrard/Ashdale Branch, Johannes Hirn of U of T's Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics has some incredible stories to tell in Black Holes are like Kinder Surprises and Other Short Stories from the Universe.

Food Lovers' Paradise at Mount Pleasant Village Fall Fair

Celebrate local food this Saturday, October 15, with Mount Pleasant Library and its partner Culinarium, a Mount Pleasant Village shop specializing in local foods. Check out details here.

The street fair gets started at 10 am, and we've got back-to-back author readings starting at 11 am, with Margaret Webb, author of Apples to Oysters: A Food Lover's Tour of Canadian Farms. Following this, you can hear Christina Palassio, editor of The Edible City: Toronto's Food from Farm to Fork at 1:00. There will be plenty of time to meet and talk with these food experts.

 

You can purchase Apples to Oysters and The Edible City, as well as Olga Ogryzlo's The Ontario Table from 12 to 1:00.

 

We promise a mouth-watering event! To tempt your palate, Culinarium is providing  local apples, cheeses and other items for tasting. If you want more info, just call the branch: 416-393-7737.

 

Imagined Futures for the Lower Don: A History of Big Ideas for a Small River

Riverdale Branch, October 12, 7 p.m.

If anyone knows the Don River, it is Jennifer Bonnell, who has been researching the river's history, going back to the earliest days of Toronto and York, in the 18th century. She has mapped it, written about it and given talks on the multiple uses (and at times abuses) of this remarkable body of water. The cast of characters who have lived in the area or used it is extraordinarily interesting, too: Roma travellers and squatters who took refuge there in the late 1800s and early 1900s; the unemployed of the Great Depression in the 1930s. If you have crossed the valley by subway, car or bike, you get a sense of both the beauty of the valley, and the enormous variety of human activity that goes on there. You can read Jennifer's essays (see Bringing Back the Don: Sixty Years of Community Action) or take at look at the Don River Historical Mapping Project which Jennifer and U of T Map Librarian Marcel Fortin put together. But even better, come and hear Jennifer Bonnell bring this fascinating history to life at the Riverdale Branch tomorrow, Wednesday night.

 

Jennifer Bonnell. At left, a map showing Don Valley, from the Don Valley Historical Mapping Project.

 

Collage and Scultpure at Northern District--Today!

Collage, Poetry and Sculpture

By  Valentina (Northern District)

Get an early start on Nuit Blanche with art and design workshops at  Northern District on Saturday, October 1 from 10am to 4pm. Experience the arts walking through our library space and meet with others in your neighbourhood who love creative expression and want to explore various art forms.

Collage and Poetry Experience

The word collage comes from the French verb coller and means to paste, stick, or glue.  By combining visual art with written expression, it is possible to create a powerful statement of who we are, helping to bridge the gap between the right and left brain.

In this workshop, you can discover your poetic and experimental sense, creating a collage with images from magazines and leaflets, adding words that reflect your collage’s unique meaning. Make your very own masterpiece or just come cut-paste-write and have fun. Get inspired and celebrate Culture Days with the mixed media artists and poets Ellen Jaffe and Catherine Raine.  (Catherine Raine’s blog, Breakfast in Scarborough, is a trove of information about Toronto Public Library branches—she has visited every single one of them!) October 1, 10 am-1 pm.

by Catherine Raine

Sculpture Workshop

Digital sculpting @ your library is presented courtesy of the Toronto School  of Art. Sculpting in the digital realm lets the sculptor work naturally, but with a superset of the tools available to the traditional artist. With live demos, you will be introduced to sculpting. You can experiment with sculpting clay and learn about the amazing world of digital sculpting, an art form used extensively in film, concept art, video games and illustration. Create your very own 3D models!  October 1, 12-4 pm.

 

Laser Eagles gets started at 2 pm in the Program Room. Check out our earlier blog posting.

A warm welcome to all artists, art enthusiasts and writers!

For all Culture Days @ the Library events visit www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/ and click on Culture Days @ the Library under What's New. For all Culture Days activities, visit go to Culturedays.ca.