Boring Not Breaking News - About Libraries

    Perhaps it is better to provide some news that is benign rather than the brutal kind readily available elsewhere. Libraries are generally safe subjects and places and here are some positive stories about them. 

Seven Days A Week

  That news release reveals what you need to know and the stories which followed were all positive. As I mentioned back in "Factlet (17), the TPL is the biggest and busiest public library system in North America and they will now be even busier.

 1.  "All Toronto Public Library Branches Will Soon be Open Seven Days a Week: The city’s network of 100 locations is the largest and most used public system on the planet," Lindsey King, Toronto Life, Sept. 23, 2025.
   "Pulitzer-winning journalist Barbara Tuchman once said, “Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library.” Today, Torontonians can pour one out for the legendary writer, because the Toronto Public Library just announced that it will be keeping its doors open longer while adding much-needed new programming."
 2.  "When People Need Them Most" Every Toronto Library Now Open Sundays as Part of Citywide Access Push," Jermaine Wilson, CTV News, Oct. 17, 2025.
   "How much demand is the city seeing? When the library increased hours in 2024, officials say participating branches recorded a 44 per cent jump in visits compared to the same period the year before. Library usage citywide has also climbed, with 81 per cent of residents accessing TPL services."
 3.  "Olivia Chow Announces Plan to Open all Toronto’s Libraries Seven Days a Week by July 26, Raju Mudhar, Toronto Star, Oct. 28, 2025.
   "The cost of adding the additional hours is $2 million to the city’s budget, according to Chow. As for the approach, it will be phased in, as recruitment of new librarians and other logistical issues need to be sorted out. By the end of it, all libraries will be open on Sundays from 12-5 p.m. and several smaller libraries, which are closed on Monday’s will also open that day."
  “We have a saying at the library, the best thing a library can be is open,” said city librarian Vickery Bowles. “(This) doesn’t impact just one community. It impacts all communities, all residents across this great city. 
   “As part of this enhancement of this budget increase. We are adding approximately 42,000 hours of service in the next three years, which is an incredible feat (and) an incredible investment,” said Remtulla. 
   He added that “Sunday hours just make sense,” as many people have the day off and can make use of the library’s services. Remtulla also noted it’s one of the few remaining free places that anyone can use in the city and take advantage of its many programs."

   I am pleased to be able to finally post something positive about Toronto. Many of us are pleased that we are able to do more things than we could back in the early 1990's when stores were still forced to close on Sundays.
   I understand that university libraries are different, but I still think it would be better if they were open, a subject I addressed in this post - "Library Stuff" - from which this image is taken: 

Prison Libraries
   In this case, the title tells the tale: "A Smuggled Book Changed His Life. Now He’s Built 500 Prison Libraries:  Reginald Dwayne Betts was locked up as a teenager for carjacking. Books were his escape, and he went on to be a poet, lawyer and founder of Freedom Reads," Maggie Penman, Washington Post, Oct. 24, 2025.
   Mr. Betts founded Freedom Reads in 2020 and it is funded by donations and grants. "Betts said that for people in prison, books offer more than comfort or distraction. They offer possibilities, allowing people to imagine new lives for themselves. Betts also said that reading cultivates empathy by letting people put themselves in someone else’s shoes."
   "In August, Freedom Reads opened its 500th library at the York Correctional Institution, Connecticut’s prison for women. Betts read from “Doggerel,” and all the women who attended received a copy, lining up for him to sign it. One of the inmates decorated the wall with a mural celebrating the milestone and shared the organization’s slogan: "Freedom begins with a book."
   For his efforts, Mr. Betts received a MacArthur "Genius grant". If that grant sounds familiar, I last mentioned it in relation to Cormac McCarthy, who was a recipient as well. The amount associated with the grant is not insignificant: "The MacArthur Fellowship is a prestigious grant program, commonly called the "genius grant," that awards $800,000 to individuals showing exceptional talent and creativity in their fields. The money is paid out over five years with no restrictions on how it is used, intended to provide financial freedom for recipients to pursue their work."