By: Katherine van der Linden and Claire Dionne This article is the first in a three-part series exploring the challenges of offering French-language library services in a majority anglophone environment. If you would like to read this article in French, you can do so here. Katherine was delighted to be offered a position in a…

In 1921, the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto (which had been established in 1918) took over the operation of what was then the Toronto Conservatory of Music’s library. This month, Karen Wiseman walks us through the decision-making and process of rehoming the library’s performance collection. 

In the past, late fees were seen as a method of ensuring that our books were returned and that people were responsible when borrowing materials. It is, however, more complex than that—fines neither raise funds nor align with public libraries’ purpose. In fact, charging late fees for overdue materials is doing more harm than good. 

Summer may be winding down, but we still have some longer days remaining and so, I decided to focus on the sun as a theme. The sun that warms can also burn and strange things can occur under Sol’s harsh glare. While high tension films are usually associated with darkness, these films prove that dramas can be just as riveting in the light of day.

As many parents struggle with how to share an ongoing climate of racist violence with our children and how to change it so that they might live in a different world, I turn to 3 books for librarians to recommend that manage to carve out a landscape of joy for children while not shying away from the urgent need for education on QT/BIPOC issues for young children.

Ling Lam is an assistant department head at the Toronto Reference Library.

This month, 793.73 offers us up a “crossward” themed around some of the hosts and journalists from throughout the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s history. The answer to each hint fits into one of the rows of the acrostic below, but it’s up to you to sort out where.

We will be featuring a “Word (Or Phrase) Of The Month” each issue, courtesy of Library Lexique. This is a tool to feature useful and thematic words or phrases which may arise in day-to-day library work. This month’s is “storytime.”

The Ontario Library Association is seeking an interim editor-in-chief for Open Shelf. This position is responsible for stewarding the vision of the magazine, coordinating the efforts of the editorial team and overseeing the smooth operation and timely publication of the magazine.