A tour of Toronto's libraries

The purpose of this blog is to communicate to you all, dear readers, my life and my experiences in Toronto. For a long time I've been fretting over the fact that, well, I don't have that many experiences of "Toronto." At least not the typical, culturally fascinating ones that would warrant a blog post. But then I thought to myself, "self, your intention is to write about your life in Toronto, so why not just do that." Eureka! What a thought! Therefore, tonight I will delight you with one of the most central aspects of my life, the wonderful, the beautiful.... library (libraries to be more exact, UofT has several).

 The first library I'd like to bring your attention to is the Kelly Library. This building is indeed so reminiscent of Soviet architecture that it has been used as a backdrop for a film set in the USSR! (Imagine my surprise when I came here to get a book one snowy day and all the signs outside were suddenly in Cyrillic. I thought it was a sure sign of sleep deprivation.) The great thing about this library, once you get past the facade, is the amazing collection of Slavic literature it contains. This is the library closest to me and conveniently adjacent to the Slavic Department. So I spend a lot of my time browsing the shelves and hiding in carrels here.

For those of you with more modern tastes there is the Pratt library. The Pratt library is beautiful inside. All the walls are white and natural lighting somehow abounds here even on the darkest winter days. This library seems to have been built with all the luxuries a hard-working student could desire: comfortable chairs, plenty of outlets, big windows to stare out of... But for that reason this library also tends to get crowded. Rarely do I go here for books unless I can't find a copy at the Kelly library. But when I need to write a paper, this is a great place to go! It is also the closest to the Centre for Comparative Literature which is another plus.

 Let us move on to my personal favorite, the Hart House Library. This library is a small room located in one of the student centers called Hart House. Not only is this library beautiful inside, it is also in the same building as the gym, the swimming pool, and the theater where I work. Frequently this library is occupied with undergraduates who think it is a good idea to take a nap on the extra long couches. As long as you can get over the snoring, this is the best place to read on campus. I always feel lucky when I get one of those seats by the window. This winter I have spent many a day curled up, reading in one of those big cushy chairs as the snow storms pass me by outside.

Finally, no tour would be complete without a stop at the massive and monumental piece of architecture (read: eye-sore), Robarts library. Often called the "Concrete Peacock" or my personal favorite "Fort Book," Robarts is the central library on campus. Once you get over its harsh, cold exterior... you can look forward to a harsh, cold interior of the same style. Once you get over that there are a lot of wonderful books here. Almost any book that an academic could dream of lives within these walls. There is also a gorgeous rare book library with many, many original manuscripts and first editions available to fortunate researchers such as myself.

So we will end there. There are dozens more libraries on campus so if I ever get bored of these staples I have plenty of new book-filled buildings to turn to! And so, I can sigh the sigh of a contented reader!