Curious about physics? Since antiquity, humans have pondered the composition of the material world around us. Aristotle claimed that everything is a combination of earth, water, air and fire. Yet others claimed that everything is made up of indivisible units called atoms. These views remained speculation until very recently. The...
This post reproduces the introductory panel and selected captions from the Toronto Revealed exhibit, which was on display in TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library from February 10 to April 22, 2018. The exhibit presents art that captures Toronto's quickly changing streetscape from the mid-twentieth century to the present day....
This post reproduces text from The Art of Cartography exhibit, which was on display in TD Gallery at the Toronto Reference Library from August 13 to October 16, 2016. The exhibit featured world maps, atlases, manuscript maps, sea charts, celestial maps, city plans and other cartographic curiosities from the library's...
This post reproduces text from our Once Upon a Time exhibit, which was on display in TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library from November 5, 2016 to January 22, 2017. The exhibit explores classic fairy tales and traditional stories from around the world through a surprising array of books, toys,...
This post reproduces text from Vice & Virtue exhibit, which was on display in TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library from February 11 to April 30, 2017. The exhibit explores moral reform in Toronto as it faced rapid growth and industrialization at the turn-of-the-century. Each one of the exhibit's main...
This post reproduces text from the Pop Sherlock exhibit, which was on display in TD Gallery at Toronto Reference Library from August 19 to October 22, 2017. The exhibit explores Sherlock Holmes as the ultimate pop culture icon. Each one of the exhibit's main panels is found below, word for...
This post reproduces text from the Destination Canada exhibit, which was on display in TD Gallery at the Toronto Reference Library from May 20 to July 30, 2017. The exhibit explores our diverse experiences of migration, arrival and finding a place of belonging from early settlement to present day. Each...
Treatment of Magnolia Warblers drawing by William Pope. In 1917, Toronto Public Library acquired 226 drawings of birds and mammals by William Pope (1811–1902). Pope lived much of his life in what is now Ontario. He was Canada’s first artist-naturalist of European background. Learn more in our post about Pope....
Have you ever wanted to learn to draw? Before you answer with "I can't even draw a straight line," let me assure you that drawing is a skill that anyone can learn. Portion of a frontispiece from A Catechism of Drawing (1818). The two things needed to learn to draw...
Have you been curious about web design, and would you like to know if it's something you'd be good at or enjoy doing? A recent blog showcased our eLearning resources on programming. Besides those, there are many free and open-source tools in the web that will enhance your path forward....