From fiction to non-fiction, art books to cookbooks, children’s stories to classic literature, you’ll find thousands of gently used titles at unbeatable prices. The sale also includes magazines, CDs, DVDs, and more, making it an ideal stop for thoughtful holiday gift shopping or expanding your own home library.

Prices start at just $1, with rare or high-quality items priced a little higher. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own bags, and while cash is preferred, debit and credit payments will be available for purchases over $5.

The event takes place at Beeton Hall on the first floor of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street) on the following dates:

• Thursday, November 20 – 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. ($2 cash entry fee)

• Friday, November 21 – 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Free entry)

• Saturday, November 22 – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Free entry)

All proceeds from the sale help fund vital Toronto Public Library programs and services that benefit communities across the city.

Whether you’re hunting for a rare gem, a favourite classic, or a cozy winter read, this annual book sale is a beloved Toronto tradition worth checking out.

For more information, visit the Toronto Public Library’s website or follow their updates on Instagram and Facebook.

The post Toronto Public Library Book Sale 2025: Dates, Location & Details appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

And I don’t just mean all those dusty, dog-eared copies of Fellowship of the Ring and Le Morte d’Arthur lining the shelves. Rather, I’m thinking of the stories, the myths, so often associated with these temples to knowledge.

Visit any decent-sized library, and you’ll find someone happy to regale you with tales of ghosts haunting its stacks, long-rumoured hidden chambers, and, in all likelihood, the indiscretions of libidinous undergrads. (It never ceases to amuse me that U of T’s brutalist Robarts Library is reputed as one of Toronto’s prime spots for late-night rendezvous.)

Libraries are the places we go to learn, to meet, to discuss. They’re where we find Margaret Atwood entertaining audiences, where we learn to PhotoShop or to 3D print, where we go to marvel at the extraordinary work of Canadian architectural geniuses.

Robert Lepage’s new immersive theatre/VR production, The Library at Night, is a celebration of all things library. Adapted from a 2007 essay collection by noted Argentine-Canadian writer Alberto Manguel, Library takes us on a virtual reality tour of everything from the earliest repositories of knowledge through fictional libraries and on to the most exciting modern constructions.

The Lighthouse at One Yonge St. is home to some of Toronto’s most instagrammable (if artistically dubious) productions in recent memory, including the distressingly popular Immersive Van Gogh and Immersive Klimt. One way you can immediately tell Library is better? Photos are expressly prohibited.

It makes sense. Most of Library is in VR, so it’s not like you’re going to walk away with screenshots anyway. But director Lepage, one of Canada’s preeminent theatrical figures (responsible for everything from Cirque du Soleil shows to The Met Opera’s celebrated Der Ring des Nibelungen) admirably resists the crass commercialism found in other Lighthouse “experiences.” Lepage knows that real-world immersion is what makes Library worthwhile, and he doesn’t want you distracted with selfies.

That immersion begins with the opening segment, in which you’re free to browse a mocked-up private library, guided by Manguel’s voiceover narration. Manguel’s faux library has interesting books and other objects on display, while some nifty lighting and special effects create the illusion you’re off in a secluded library on a rainy evening. Following this introduction, your group is handed VR headsets and shepherded into a library-style study hall, desks lit by those famous green lamps, while the room itself is decorated with paper trees extending floor to ceiling. This is where you’ll sit for the duration of the experience, which involves VR tours of ten libraries. Eight of these are real, one is a work of pure fiction, and the tenth is a recreation of a famously destroyed library (guess which one!).

Each tour consists of a 360-degree video of a library. It’s not, strictly speaking, interactive. You can’t move around within the virtual space; all you do is look – up and down, left and right, front and back – and take in the scene. All the while, Manguel provides narration, a half-poetic, half-educational account of each library, its history, its legends. There are highlights – a tour which begins in the vastness of space; a flight of fancy at a notable Canadian library; a visit to a remarkable rotating wooden construction in Japan – but all ten tours are compelling in their own way. I hesitate to spoil any, but there’s one particularly moving, if distressingly relevant, segment which takes place during the bombing of the Sarajevo library.

To be sure, there’s little here that couldn’t be done at home with a VR headset like the Oculus Quest. But it’s nice that, when the tour is over and you remove your headset, you’re still “in” the experience, whispering to your fellow travellers about what you’ve just seen. After all, even faux libraries have to follow the rules.

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Book tickets for The Library at Night here. On now through May 29, 2022.

Alberto Manguel’s essay collection The Library at Night can be found here.

The post The Library at Night (Theatre Review): Bibliophilia appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Toronto photographer Pavel Muller sent us this shot from the Reference Library for our daily photo. Check out his page for more of his images from around the city.

To have your photos featured on our website, please join our 500px group.

The post “A Lamp on a Ceiling” by Toronto Photographer Pavel Muller appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

On October 23rd the library located on Bloor just East of Dufferin turned 100. When it was built, it cost $60,000 and was the largest library in Canada. The original building was built by Chapman & McGiffin Architects and was recently renovated in 2009 to merge the classic old design with a new modern mix.

The space was a great choice for celebrating both the library’s longevity and the young patrons whose love of books will hopefully keep the library here for another 100 years.

Since 2012, New Collection, through events and fundraisers, has raised over $415,000 in support of the Toronto Public Library. One of the initiatives that are run and funded by New Collection is Young Voices, a group open to Toronto teens encouraging an exploration of creativity, fostering connections between other youth and to build confidence. Year-round writing and art workshops, an annual writers conference, the e-writer in residence and the Young Voices magazine are all part of the program.

New Collection has also had some fun events and moments in the past. Here are a few of them.

-Watching The Jays’ Game 5 with Mike Babcock of the Leafs in 2015,
-A whisky tasting at Spirit House with author and award-winning whisky connoisseur Mark Bylok
-An edible book club with celebrity chef Matt Basile and TV/radio personality Pay Chen at Lisa Marie
-Cocktail receptions with Margaret Atwood, Justin Trudeau, David Suzuki and Irvine Welsh
-Jeanne Beker in conversation with international best-selling author Kevin Kwan (Crazy Rich Asians).

-There is also an upcoming Edible Book Club with Bobbette and Belle.

New Collection holds events every month in Toronto with event info being updated on their website. If you are interested in joining, please get in touch with them there.

The post New Collection Events for the Library’s Young Patrons in Toronto appeared first on Toronto Guardian.