Accessing the Toronto Reference Library: An Artist's Guide
How to Pass Time this Winter
Every year when winter rolls around, I forget how long and depressing it is. This year feels colder than usual and darker than I remember. Because the winter in Toronto is so long, this is when my library usage becomes the heaviest. Leaving the house without spending $30 feels like an impossible task in this economy, but the library is my third space. It is one of the last spaces you can access without someone expecting you to spend money. The library is an expander, I feel my mind open up every time I go there. It is a special place, and I worked at a library myself for over 6 years.
The design of the Toronto Reference Library always gives me a rush, designed by Raymond Moriyama and opening in 1977, this space feels unmoved. A capsule of the 1970s which is why I find it so charming. It occupies a very unique place in my heart and being there helps to pass the time, going through the stacks, reading, or doing computer work.
There are special characteristics to the Toronto Reference Library that may not be obvious to everyone. I grew up in Toronto but moved to Niagara when I was 11, so I feel that I may have missed the memo on accessing the Reference Library because I didn’t spend my formative years in the city. I discovered these aspects when I moved back to Toronto for university in 2014. I don’t feel alone in being late to learning about this; often, when I tell talk about the Picture Collection or the Art Books section, this will be the first time the person I am speaking to has also heard of it. So that’s why I’ve put together a short guide on the Reference Library. I want to share this information with others as a written guide and simplify something that may feel intimidating.
I will preface this and say, that this is guide is my opinion and may not be 100% accurate but I have assembled it to the best of my abilities and knowledge. I will also try my best and keep this up to date since things do change.
Picture Collection
If you haven’t heard about it before, the Picture Collection is a series of images organized under subject headings. When I introduce people to the Picture Collection, they are always shocked that you can go through the filing cabinets, with no special permissions. When you exit the elevators on the fifth floor of the Toronto Reference Library, the collection presents itself as this sea of filing cabinets. It looks very inconspicuous if you have never browsed it before. And also intimidating? Growing up and going to the library there are things that you don’t do and don’t touch, and this could feel like one of those things. But when I tell you anyone can go through them, it is open to anyone! The collection is endless - with over 1 million images and 32,000 subject headings. Every time I go, there is something new to discover. So, this is how you can access it:
You can simply start going through the cabinets! No end goals, just to browse, I often get a kick out of the subject headings:
If you are on the hunt for something specific, there are wooden cabinets with small drawers which have all the subject headings listed from A-Z. These are in the back right corner behind the grey filing cabinets. You can ask a librarian if you cannot locate it.
Going through the filing cabinets, you can pull multiple folders and browse the images in the file. I usually make a pile of the images I want to take a copy of. You can photograph it with your phone or photocopy it.
My HOT tip is actually the colour photocopy machine which is in the corner of the fifth floor.
This year since the library got cyberhacked (which makes me so sad, why are you hacking the library?) - because of this, printing was free! The posters around the library say free printing will be ending in early 2025, but I’m not sure when. The new prices will be $0.55 for any paper size on a colour copy. But what you can do, is fill up the entire photocopy bed and copy multiple images at once to get your money’s worth.
I love copying colour images and the quality of the copies are amazing! I cannot rave about them enough; they are almost a perfect replica of the image, and the colour rendering is beautiful. I will often make scans later from the photocopy. I like to use my photocopies for projects, reference images, scrapbooking etc. The fifth-floor photocopier on the RIGHT is the one that makes colour copies. The one on the left only does black and white and it’s a bit streaky (as of recently). I would recommend the right one. If you need to put money on your library card, you can ask them to do it at the front desk on the first floor.
Once you are done with your folder of pictures, put it back on the returns cart so it can be filed properly. There are reshelving carts located throughout the entire library and the fifth floor. Don’t try and put the folder back yourself. Accessing the Picture Collection has brought me countless hours of joy and I hope you can also enjoy it too!
Art Books
Also located on the fifth floor, is the art book collection. The collection is located on the opposite side of the elevators, if you cannot find it, feel free to ask a librarian! There are countless titles, spanning from photography to painting to media art. I recommend browsing the shelves and grabbing books that catch your eye. Again, once you are done with the books (if you don’t decide to check them out) return them to a reshelving cart.
Rent DVDs from the Library
One of my greatest joys is to rent and watch a DVD. I feel that we are pivoting further and further away from physical media, but it is so important to have physical copies of things! As a child, it was always such a treat to be able to go to the movie store, browse the isles, touch and look at the artwork on the DVDs, and pick what we were going to watch that weekend. Sometimes I feel trapped by streaming services, scrolling through their selection aimlessly - sometimes over the course of an entire hour. Starting a movie to only stop watching it 15 minutes in. It might sound simple, but making the effort to go to the library to pick out DVD has reinvigorated my love for cinema! 95% of the time if I rent a DVD from the library, I will finish it. I also love looking at the title screen and a lot of DVDs still have behind the scenes as an extra feature. The Reference Library has a collection of over 10,000 DVDs located on the fifth floor! This collection includes movies and TVS shows.
I started renting DVDs because there were certain movies I wanted to watch which were not available on streaming. Not to mention, it is also free! I felt bogged down by endless subscriptions, but this is a way to quit that, because you can also rent TV series on DVD from the library. All you need is a DVD player, which I borrowed from my mom. Ask your friends, someone probably has one kicking around. If that doesn’t work, you can also get one from Facebook or the thrift store for very cheap.
That’s all for now! Thanks for joining :)
Spiral of the Week
Because this Substack is titled Spiralling Out Spiralling In, I want to include a new and unique spiral in each one as a treat at the end :) This one is a painting by Georgia O'Keeffe titled ‘Red Hill and White Shell’. If you made it this far thank you, talk soon xx