Toronto Public Library / en A new chapter: Here’s how Toronto, 91Թ libraries are embracing change in the digital world /news/new-chapter-here-s-how-toronto-u-t-libraries-are-embracing-change-digital-world <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">A new chapter: Here’s how Toronto, 91Թ libraries are embracing change in the digital world </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/TRL-main---1140-x-76.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=X4AllTUq 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/TRL-main---1140-x-76.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=gfTUiXOn 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/TRL-main---1140-x-76.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zXmGe0ob 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/TRL-main---1140-x-76.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=X4AllTUq" alt="photo of crowd at library"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-03-21T13:16:34-04:00" title="Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - 13:16" class="datetime">Wed, 03/21/2018 - 13:16</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Toronto Public Library managers speak to 91Թ students, community members about how libraries adapt and evolve to suit the changing needs of Torontonians (all photos by Romi Levine)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/humanities" hreflang="en">Humanities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/st-michael-s-college" hreflang="en">St. Michael's College</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/toronto-public-library" hreflang="en">Toronto Public Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-libraries" hreflang="en">91Թ Libraries</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When <strong>Paolo Granata</strong> moved to Toronto from Bologna, Italy to begin teaching at the 91Թ two years ago, one of the first things he did was go with his wife and kids to his local public library.</p> <p>“The library card was a symbolic way to feel part of a broader cultural climate, to be part of a community, to belong, to be active players in the city,” said Granata, who is the coordinator of the book and&nbsp;media studies program at St. Michael's College in the Faculty of Arts and Science.</p> <p>Granata’s experience echoes that of newcomers across the city who are able to learn about their new home through the massive selection of free resources available to them at Toronto’s public libraries.</p> <p>As most people who work at the library will tell you, the library isn’t – and perhaps never was – just about the books. And as technology continues to evolve, public libraries have too – adapting, almost as fast as the technology itself – to meet the changing needs of the people who use them.</p> <p>That was the biggest takeaway from a joint 91Թ and Toronto Public Library event held at the Toronto Reference Library on Tuesday called <a href="http://www.mcluhansalons.ca/libraries-as-media-spaces/">Libraries as Media Spaces: Technology,&nbsp;Debate, Equity</a>. The event combined 91Թ’s <a href="http://www.mcluhansalons.ca/">McLuhan Salons</a> series and TPL’s newly-launched <a href="https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/programs-and-classes/featured/on-civil-society.jsp">On Civil Society</a> programming.</p> <p>It featured talks by City Librarian and alumna&nbsp;<strong>Vickery Bowles</strong>, TPL’s Manager of Cultural and Special Event Programming Gregory McCormick, Innovation Manager Ab Velasco, Manager, Service Development – Special Collections Mary Rae Shantz, Toronto Reference Library Manager Gillian Byrne and <strong>Marshall McLuhan</strong>’s son Michael.</p> <p><img alt="Michael McLuhan and Paolo Granata" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__7868 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/Embed-2---michael-M---750-x-500.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 500px; margin: 10px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>"I'm not trying to be a dinosaur but may print live forever," said Michael McLuhan&nbsp;(photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Famed 91Թ professor and media theorist McLuhan was already thinking ahead when he wrote about people’s changing relationship with libraries in the late 1970s along with <strong>Robert K. Logan</strong>, professor emeritus in the department of physics, who attended the 91Թ-TPL event. The text was turned into a book in 2016 called <em>the Future of the Library</em>.</p> <p>Granata brought his "readers and readerships"&nbsp;class to Tuesday’s event to honour McLuhan’s legacy of using the “city as a classroom,” he said.</p> <p>“We strongly believe, in this class, libraries play a fundamental role in conceiving reading as a social experience – as a way to foster cultural participation, encourage civic engagement, and a way to foster urban sustainable development,” said Granata. “In a hyper-connected age, to counterbalance online activities that rule our lives, we also need physical places where we can get together.”</p> <p>The role of libraries as community spaces reaches far beyond brick and mortar, said Bowles.</p> <p>“When people talk about libraries as irrelevant or large warehouses of old books, clearly there's a disconnect between the way many people think about libraries of the past and the ways libraries have actually developed and operate in present day,” she said. “We have many more ways to connect to our patrons and reveal our library services… Now, in fact, two of our main customer service channels are not surprisingly Facebook and Twitter.”</p> <p>Many of the libraries' archival and rare materials are available online as digital copies, which Shantz encourages users to take and use for their own projects.</p> <p>“There's more than one story to tell and more than one way to tell the story,” she said. “What we're challenged to do now as the public library is to take these resources and sprinkle them out in as many places so you can find them, be it Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and reuse them and rebuild your own story out of them.”</p> <p>Toronto’s library system also offers tech-minded services such as&nbsp;3D printing and VR equipment, said Velasco.</p> <p>“Not only can people come to the libraries to consume&nbsp;information, they can actively participate and create information such as media in our spaces,” he said.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__7870 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Embed-1-student---750x500.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>TPL managers spoke to a packed crowd of 91Թ students and community members (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Toronto Public Library isn’t the only system embracing change – so is 91Թ Libraries, said Deputy Chief Librarian <strong>Julie Hannaford</strong>.</p> <p>“We're changing in so many ways,” she said. “You can't stay static in terms of academic libraries because not only are we keeping up with trends and changes within our profession, but we're also grappling with changes in terms of higher education as well.”</p> <h3><a href="/news/uoftbacktoschool-10-things-you-didn-t-know-you-could-do-u-t-s-libraries">10 things you didn’t know you could do at 91Թ’s libraries</a></h3> <p>91Թ Libraries provides faculty, staff and students with massive amounts of data and digitized materials – allowing them to take deep dives into various topics, said Hannaford. It also hosts events that, just like TPL, promote dialogue and debate like a week-long event that tackled <a href="https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/scienceliteracy">science in a post-truth era</a> and a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-aApMSFKxnFSDZ4a3N6RHNUeGs/view">law research-a-thon</a> exploring the legal implications of the U.S. travel ban and how it could affect Canada.</p> <p>“Libraries are not doomed by any means,” said Michael McLuhan. “It's not only a place where social discourse can happen – it gives us all access, it levels the playing field, it enables us to deal with each other on the same level. Anybody can become an expert.”</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 21 Mar 2018 17:16:34 +0000 Romi Levine 131830 at Free museum passes for 91Թ students /news/free-museum-passes-u-t-students <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Free museum passes for 91Թ students</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-01-museum-pass-lead2.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KCOIXjAu 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2016-11-01-museum-pass-lead2.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=SXOnnOIp 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2016-11-01-museum-pass-lead2.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=8jPPowsh 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2016-11-01-museum-pass-lead2.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=KCOIXjAu" alt="Photo of Art Gallery of Ontario"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-11-01T11:16:52-04:00" title="Tuesday, November 1, 2016 - 11:16" class="datetime">Tue, 11/01/2016 - 11:16</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">The Art Gallery of Ontario is just one of the attractions students can enter for free with the pass (photo by Reg Natarajan via Flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/noreen-ahmed-ullah" hreflang="en">Noreen Ahmed-Ullah</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Noreen Ahmed-Ullah</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/toronto" hreflang="en">Toronto</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/toronto-public-library" hreflang="en">Toronto Public Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/tpl" hreflang="en">TPL</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/museums" hreflang="en">Museums</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/art" hreflang="en">Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">Select museums and cultural institutions are participating in the Toronto Public Libraries initiative</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>91Թ students can get passes to visit select city museums for free, thanks to a pilot initiative with Toronto Public Libraries (TPL).&nbsp;</p> <p>All they have to do is stop by one of several 91Թ libraries and request a <a href="https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/news/free-museum-and-arts-passes-now-available-students-u-t-libraries">museum pass booklet</a>. Booklets are available at Robarts, Engineering and Gerstein Libraries as well as the library circulation desks at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 91Թ Mississauga and 91Թ Scarborough.</p> <p>Next students need to take those museum pass booklets to a Toronto Public Library branch at City Hall, Lillian H. Smith, Parliament Street, the Scarborough Civic Centre and the Toronto Reference Library. They’ll need to show the booklet and a TPL card to get the museum pass activated as part of TPL’s Sun Life Financial Museum and Arts Pass (MAP) program.</p> <p>The pass is good for free admission for two to the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Bata Shoe Museum, City of Toronto Historic Sites or the Textile Museum of Canada.</p> <p>“Students are on a budget,” said<strong> Julie Hannaford</strong>, 91Թ’s deputy chief librarian. “Some are coming to a brand new city and that can be pretty overwhelming. With the pass, they can access art and culture in the city for free, and this is a great way to learn about the city.”&nbsp;</p> <p>And a little time spent gazing at art might even be good for students' health. (Read about <a href="https://jenniferstellar.com/people-2/">the 91Թ Mississauga researcher</a> exploring the health impact of positive emotions,<a href="/news/putting-stock-awe-u-t-research"> including the awe we feel in the presence of great art</a>.)&nbsp;</p> <p>It’s all part of an effort to drive more university students to the Toronto Public Libraries.</p> <p>The program is starting initially at 91Թ and Ryerson University. If successful, TPL and 91Թ hope to expand the program to&nbsp;include more cultural institutions.</p> <p>“Students see their campus libraries as their libraries,” says Brian Francis, marketing manager for TPL. “Our goal is to get them to come into TPL branches because we want them to get a sense of all the things TPL offers.” &nbsp;</p> <p>At 91Թ Libraries, students will need to show their T-card to confirm they are a student&nbsp;in order to get the booklet.</p> <p>To get a TPL card, students need to live, work, go to school or own property in the city of Toronto.</p> <p>Students can also participate in the larger MAP program as long as they have a TPL card. Those passes can get them a free visit to the Toronto Zoo, the Ontario Science Centre, the Royal Ontario Museum and more.</p> <p>Students can pick up their museum pass booklets at the designated 91Թ libraries until Jan. 31 or until supplies&nbsp;run out. &nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 01 Nov 2016 15:16:52 +0000 ullahnor 102204 at