New to Canada

Once a month on this blog we feature a language collection and today we would like to present to you the great free Korean collections that Toronto Public Library offers - borrow thousands of Korean books for adults and children, magazines, DVDs, music CDs (including Kpop!), as well as language-learning materials to study Korean. 

There are four Toronto libraries with large Korean collections and six more branches with smaller collections in Korean. Visit Cedarbrae, North York Central Library, Palmerston and Toronto Reference Library for our largest Korean collections.

Samples from the Korean collection - Palmerston Branch.

Getting a Free Library Card

To borrow materials from the library, all you need to do is sign up for your free library card. Find out how easy it is to get a library card. Here are instructions on how to get a library card in Korean. With your card, you can visit any of our 99 branches, among which are the 10 branches that have Korean collections. 

In addition to borrowing materials, there are other great ways to experience the library. Check out this video in Korean to find out more about getting a library card, the TD Summer Reading Club and storytimes at the library.

Toronto's Koreatown

If you ever visit Palmerston branch, one of the large Korean collection locations of Toronto Public Library, be sure to go outside and explore Koreatown or Little Korea. This small stretch along Bloor, between Markham and Christie Streets offers a great mix of affordable Korean eateries and restaurants. Here are some suggested Korean restaurants in Toronto, complied by BlogTO.

Toronto has the largest single concentration of Koreans in Canada and each year at the beginning of June, Koreatown presents the Korean Dano Spring Festival at Christie Pits Park (Christie subway @ 750 Bloor Str. W.), where visitors can enjoy Korean food, traditional dance and music, Korean Pop, arts and crafts, Taekwondo demonstrations, sports competitions etc. It is the largest Korean community event in Canada!

Learning Korean

And if you would like to begin learning Korean - the library is the right place! We have dictionaries, books and CDs to help you learn Korean. Mango Languages is another great way to learn and practice Korean (and many other languages). Mango Languages Learning online courses are free to use with a Toronto Public Library card.

How about Korean stories for children?

 In addition to many books and DVDs, Dial-a-Story is a great resource for children to listen to recorded stories in Korean by phone (and 15 other languages!). There are stories for younger children (7 and under) and for older children (up to 12). You can listen anytime by dialing 416-395-5400 - the free Dial-a-Story library number.

Interested in more languages collections?

Check out our other blog posts highlighting multilingual collections at Toronto Public Library:

• Tamil at Your Library.
• Your Library in Russian.
• Top Spanish eBooks, eMagazines and Other Free Spanish Resources at Your Library.