I <3 the Liberry

I'm going to break from my usual snarky posts and take a moment to make public my crush on the library. The following luv-in was inspired by a survey on the Toronto Public Library's main page. Here's what I happily told them:

I use the library on a weekly basis, if not more, and yet most of my complaints are niggling ones. I greatly appreciate the TPL's vast catalogue and the ease with which I can access it online. Any topic in which I take an interest can be represented with TPL holdings. Toronto is truly lucky to have a resource like this! I'm always surprised whenever (and it's not often) the library doesn't have a title in stock. That's the mark of a great service.

Toronto's fantastic library service is something that is easily taken for granted. I once did, myself, before a friend made me realise what a gem it is: Visiting from London (largest city in the UK, remember), he was bowled over by the number and range of the TPL's holdings, and he spent a good portion of his two week visit using my account to place holds on dozens of movies, books and CDs. Despite them coming from all points of the GTA compass, the holds were all delivered to my local library branch, which is a 10 minute walk from my apartment and at the time was literally no bigger than a school "portable" classroom - but I use less as "a library" than as "a depot." As has always been the case, I had a number of overdue fines on my card, and when we picked up the first batch of arrivals, I grudgingly (that's the Scot in me) handed over a fin. My friend's eyes popped (I mistakenly thought at the size of the fine, though my University librarians would likely have ROTFL at this paltry $5), but my epiphany was his wowed comment, "is that all those cost?!" Not only does London's library network charges for every item withdrawn, but they charge enough to make $5 look like a deal!

I invite all Torontonians who aren't yet aware of the library's wondrousness to partake as soon as possible. After all, your tax dollars are paying for it, and you'll soon s it's worth every overdue-fine penny!