An Urban Romance (Lessons from Toronto)

The Heart of the City (Oct 2014)

Cities are people to me, and whether it was my first trip to Toronto many years ago, trips thereafter, moving to Toronto for graduate school in 2010, or moving back to Toronto in March 2014, it’s always felt like Toronto and I are courting. Will this be my long -term city? The question has surfaced again and again in my heart and mind over the past few years, and been the subject of many audio stories and blog posts and late night cups of tea. Toronto has always been a love who is different and unexpected and challenging, and who is constantly asking me step up and become more. Toronto can drive me crazy, push me, break my heart sometimes but ultimately, it is a place where I feel intensely happy and fulfilled. In particular, this past year in Toronto has been one of the most incredibly challenging and beautiful years of my life to date, and has taught me so much. In response to that long asked question however, a couple of weeks ago I packed my things and came home to visit before I begin God-willing, a new chapter in a different city soon. Preparation for what lies ahead is often aided by learning from your experiences, and before that move, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on the lessons of the past 12 months. A list of brief reflections/lessons is underneath the audio story below.

1) You cannot go backwards in time and recreate an experience.

One of the keys to contentment and adjustment I’ve discovered is that I need to create enough space in my heart for an experience and a place to unfold. When I moved to Toronto as a graduate student, I realised that the way to feel happy in the city was to not compare it to Vancouver, and to deflect questions about which city I liked better. I love both cities for entirely different reasons and avoiding comparison allowed me to fall deeply in love with Toronto and appreciate the unique characteristics that make it an incredible place to live. Similarly, when I moved this year, it quickly became clear that my experience with the city would be entirely different to my previous experiences. I was no longer a student, I had been away for two years, and in many ways it felt like I was moving to a new city that felt slightly familiar, but otherwise was very very new. Allowing the city and I to get to know each other anew was important, and towards this end, it was important to create new rituals that allowed for new definitions and understandings of Toronto to unfold.

2) It is possible to become more comfortable with uncertainty. And you really don’t need very many things to be happy.

By nature, I am someone who is not good with change and uncertainty. I like it when things stay the same. I can’t handle plot-heavy novels because I stress out about the main characters. I feel sad when the gelato flavours at my favourite cafes change. I mourn furniture changes when I come home to visit. All in all, it takes me a while to process new things. And while all these things are still true, this year has helped me to become much more comfortable with the unknown, and to learn that instead of becoming overwhelmed by change and uncertainty, all I can do is do the best I can with the day that is before me. In the past 12 months I’ve moved 4 times (3 times within Toronto and then back to Vancouver), and lived with 2 suitcases (I didn’t bring any books) for the entire time. Aside from groceries, every time I’ve wanted to purchase something, I thought about it several times beforehand, and by the time I asked myself the questions of “How will I move it? Where will I store it? Do I really need it?” several times, I usually realized it was something I could do without. In August I had a trip home scheduled, and it was time to move from the apartment I was in, so though I hadn’t found a new apartment yet, I packed my things, left them with a friend and went home for three days. When I returned I started a new job the next day and only retrieved my things a few days later, but I still had everything I needed with me in the little backpack I had taken to Vancouver. I found a new apartment the next week, but the lesson that you actually need very little, and that uncertainty can only be lived through one moment at a time has stayed with me. This year has taught me to become better at something I find very difficult: trusting and letting go.

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We Dismantle Stereotypes through Stories

The beauty of (local) cultural production. (The Met, NYC, Oct 2014)

I love discovering cities and places through stories, and I’d like to learn more about places outside North America through my film and reading choices this year. A dear friend gifted me Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck last week, yesterday I watched Riaad Moosa’s film Material (the subject of today’s audio story) set in Joburg, South Africa, and in the months to come, I’m hoping to tackle some of the books on this list by The Guardian of the Ten Best City Books of 2014.

What are your favourite books and films that have helped you discover new (or old) places? I’d love to hear your suggestions.

Dearest It’s Cold Outside

It was my last day at United Way Toronto this week (proper reflections coming soon, but an audio story of my reflections about building strong personal relationships above) and while my heart has felt warm and overflowing with love over all the goodbyes, it’s been cold and snowy outside. And each time I trudge through the slushy sidewalks/snow I think of people in Toronto who are homeless, and how though shelters exist, nearly 50% of homeless people who use Toronto’s shelters and meal programs have a monthly income of less than $500. On a limited income, often winter necessities are simply beyond the budget! If you are able, I highly recommend checking out the UWT Warmest Wishes gift catalogue. Through the catalogue, you can send a gift of a coat, boots, meals or more, and if you get a gift by December 24th, the P and L Odette Charitable Foundation will match your gift! Definitely something to look at and consider over the holiday season.

A Fair Witnessing (Gems from Scott Korb’s Light Without Fire)

Sweetness for the mind and heart. (Soma Chocolate, Toronto)

Some books call out to you to share them with others. Recently I read Scott Korb’s book Light Without Fire about the first year at Zaytuna College, America’s first Muslim liberal arts college, and ever since I finished it, I can’t stop talking about it with others.

There are so many things to appreciate and admire about this book. To begin, it is rare to encounter an author who is able to talk about Islam/Muslims with honesty and sensitivity. In Light without Fire, the author’s admiration, warmth and connection with the people he meets shines from every page, and you get the sense that he is not a journalist simply watching Zaytuna from the sidelines, but someone who participates in the life of the community. When he visits the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland for Friday prayers for instance, he lines up shoulder to shoulder with others in prayer. When he attends the mawlids (a celebration of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him), at Zaytuna or in the broader community, over time he becomes familiar with the poetry and sacred music that is recited.

His curiosity and engagement makes the book a very readable, thoughtful, interesting, important read, and one that rewards its reader generously for their time and attention. It makes the book a light, a book of beautiful writing, subtle humour, and humanity, that helps the reader see and understand Zaytuna College more clearly.

“Always carry a little notebook around with you. Whatever inspires you, or rings true for you, was meant for you. So make sure you write it down.” Faced with what Faatimah called “the obvious way” that the Zaytuna classroom – or really any classroom – was not like the rest of the world, and vice versa, every moment deserved the attention of a notetaker. Though the Zaytuna classroom might be structured with the books and schedules and tests that are the trappings of any classroom, what’s “out here” is no less important, structured as it is, she said “so much more by the divine.” The whole world is the classroom. She saw in it signs and proofs of Allah.” ~ (Light without Fire, p.110)

In the spirit of this advice to be a notetaker (given by Shaykh Yahya Rhodus), below are a few thoughts from my read.

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On Understanding One’s Destination

For the Seriously Planning Book Club, I’m reading a book right now called The Road to Mecca by Muhammad Asad, that so far, is a beautiful, introspective read about faith and identity. I read the following passage today and it struck me as worth noting in my digital notebook and with all of you – a powerful reminder that although it is important to live with purpose and journey in search of benefit, we ultimately can only fully understand where we are going/where we have been at the end of our travels.

But after all is there always a clearly discernible borderline between the mundane and the abstruse in life? Could there have been, for instance, anything more mundane than setting out in search of a lost camel, and anything more abstruse, more difficult of comprehension than almost dying of thirst?

Perhaps it was the shock of that experience that has sharpened my senses and brought forth the need to render some sort of account to myself: the need to comprehend, more fully than I ever done before, the course of my own life. But, then, I remind myself, can anyone really comprehend the meaning of his own life as long as he is alive? We do not know, of course, what has happened to us at this or that period in our lives; and we do sometimes understand why it happened; but our destination – our destiny – is not so easily espied: for destiny is the sum of all that has moved in us and moved us, past and present, and all that will move us and within us in the future – and so it can unfold itself only at the end of the way, and must always remain misunderstood or only half understood as long as we are treading the way.

How can I say, at the age of thirty-two, what my destiny was or is?

~The Road to Mecca, Muhammad Asad, p.50

Toronto 2.0 (On Stories, Faith and Cities)

Warm your heart.

About four years ago, I ran a storytelling program called Terry Tales. Before it began, I imagined a “Moth-style” event where from the very first event, people would enthusiastically tell stories about their lives to a group of strangers.

What I discovered instead is that it takes time and confidence to realize that you have a story and experience to share. Instead of providing a space for performances, our events were about a circle of chairs, an open room, and tea and cookies to break the ice. The conversation was intimate, unexpected and dynamic, and participants ranged from first year students, to PhD candidates to recent alumni/young professionals in the wider community. Every event was different because the participants grew each time, we blogged about the conversation afterwards, and many participants shared with us how important these bi-monthly gatherings became to them.

I stopped holding these events when I moved to Toronto for grad school, but Terry Tales taught me about the importance of spaces of community and the power of stories. Whenever I’ve moved in the past, whether it was to Toronto four years, or to Vancouver two years ago, or most recently, back to Toronto this March, it’s been important to me to find non-alcoholic centric spaces for discussion, and to find others who were striving to grow spiritually, develop strong family relations, make deep community contributions, create/appreciate heart-nourishing art, live healthily, and protect the planet. So much of the time, the conversations I have about faith are from the standpoint of explaining oneself, and so its always been important to also find people with whom to have proactive, positive conversations that widen and deepen my understanding of what it means to live faithfully in the world. The further I get from my undergraduate experience, the more questions I have, and the richer these conversations become.

Now that I’m back in Toronto, I’d like to create a space for conversation on a regular basis. In many ways coming back to Toronto has been like moving to a new city altogether, and over the past couple of weeks I’ve been spending a lot of time listening and learning through one on one chats and large group settings. In large groups it’s been beautiful (for example) to witness the passionate debate at Canada Reads about how we understand difference, belonging, colonialism and marginalization in Canada today, to learn about the NFB documentary Highrise about the experience of living vertically in Toronto today, to participate in a Muslim Chaplaincy discussion about how people with disabilities experience inaccessible mosques, and to hear beautiful expressions from students of how faith and art connect, among other experiences. In small settings, it’s been wonderful to exchange stories and perspectives over long chats and multiple cups of coffee.

Both encounters have been a reminder that that this is a city of countless stories, and telling and hearing our stories matter. Sharing one’s experience with others can be an act of discovery and identity formation, and for listeners, stories can act as both an entryway to unfamiliar perspectives and experiences and a bridge to discovering others with experiences similar to your own. In this spirit, Seriously Planning will, God-willing, offer programs on a regular basis on storytelling, books, dialogue and reflection.

For March, here are our upcoming events:

March 21st: Seriously Planning BookClub On “Amusing Ourselves to Death.”

March 24th: Seriously Planning Stories

For either these events, please email seriously (dot) planning (at) gmail.com (or RSVP on the FB event page) to confirm your attendance. Hope to meet you soon!

On Reading The Post Secular City (Part 1)

Some books require time to read and digest. In 2012, I started a book called Post-Secular Cities: Space, Theory and Practice, and I only recently finished the book. It’s been a deeply influential and meaningful read and each time I pick it up, I find something new to think about. The book describes the resurgence of religion in Western public life as “one of the defining features of this century” (Ley, 2011, p.5) and interrogates the postsecular city, defined as “a public space which continues to be shaped by ongoing dynamics of secularization and secularism.. while negotiating and making space for the re-emergence of public expression of religion and spirituality (Baker and Beaumont, 2011, p. 33).

In the introduction however, the editors of the book caution assuming a new importance to religion, because it may be that what has changed is simply “a focus of gaze rather than the things themselves” (David Ley, xii). Now, a wider research community is noticing, and is being forced to respond to, the losses that occur when religion is ignored. The postsecular city matters because the “pluralism of postmodern philosophies and multicultural societies make such dogmatic closures no longer possible” (David Ley, xiii). This book matters for planners and others because while religious and spiritual values are evident in many different areas of public life (policy, governance etc), it is clearest in the built environment, and “it is in the ‘urban” that the shift from secular to postsecular in terms of public space, building use, governance and civil society is most intensely observed and experienced (Ley, p.4).

The chapters in the book cover a wide range of topics from gender and faith in post secular cities, to the role of spirituality in planning practice, to visual representations of faith in Jerusalem, and deepen the readers’ understanding of postsecular cities by examining cities from a variety of lenses.

In the chapter, Post Colonialism and Religion: New Spaces of ‘Belonging and Becoming’ in the Post Secular City, authors Christopher Baker and Justin Beaumont examine how Quran study classes in the UK are “spaces of belonging” and “spaces of becoming”. In their study, participants surveyed described benefiting emotionally from connections made with other attendees, developing practices of citizenship, deepening their understanding of how to apply principles of Islam in pluralist communities and being able to reconcile their sometimes conflicting identities of ethnicity, religion and nationality. Instead of “simply” being religious classes, these study circles were often transformative spaces (Baker and Beaumont, 2011, p.42)

For these authors, this study brings up important questions, and calls to attention the work of Habermas on religious identities in the public square. According to Habermas:

“The traditional secular model of the public sphere, whereby the role of ‘community member’ (for example a religious community) is differentiated from ‘member of society’ is unsustainable… This differentiation lies in the tension between a cognitive level of belief (ie-the beliefs generated by the transcendental view of his or her religion) and the legal norms of the host community, whereby a secular society ‘tells’ the religious citizen that certain beliefs or practices are unacceptable or illegal. This therefore raises for Habermas the question of whether this differentiation (which is not required of secular citizens) and the cognitive dissonance it produces, creates an unfair and therefore unequal pressure (what he calls paying ‘an unfair price’) on religious citizens. These citizens, he argues, have to undergo an act of reflection or relativization whereby any cognitive dissonance is made bearable.” (Baker and Beaumont, 2011, p.46)

Habermas’ point is not that we must do away with secular perspectives, but that we need to share “the cognitive tasks involved in attempting to understand each other’s positions”. His expectation for equality is that “secularized citizens may neither fundamentally deny truth positions to religious worldviews nor deny the right of believing citizens to make contributions to public discussion in religious language. A liberal political culture can even expect that secularized citizens take part in efforts to translate relevant contributions from religious language into a ‘publically accessible language’ (Baker and Beaumont, 2011, p.46).

In Habermas’ later work, titled Religion in the Public Sphere (2006), he goes into greater detail as to what these shared cognitive tasks might be. Instead of simply accommodating religion passively, there must be “an active ‘learning’ from religion (2006:17) on the part of wider society. “ (Baker and Beaumont, 2011, p.46).

This perspective and theoretical background is a key to understanding the rest of the book. If it is important to understand religion, this book aims to examine the postsecular city respectfully. In Leonie Sandercock and Maged Senbel’s chapter “Spirituality, Urban Life and the Urban Professions for instance, they examine the role of spirituality in the field of urban planning, and point out that spirituality is not discussed in the literature of planning (Sandercock and Sanbel, 2011, p.87), They argue that there are deep commonalities between having a healthy personal connection with the natural world and other people and being able to create meaningful places and spaces, and that the separation of spirituality and city planning impoverishes communities. I appreciate their arguments as planning tends to be a rationalist, empirical field, but I find their definitions and usage of the word spirituality to be limiting. Though their definition of spirituality is broad, they do not talk about religion, and this omission seems to suggest that religion and planning are not compatible. This exclusion seems to reproduce the same exclusions that their chapter seeks to address.

Clara Greed’s chapter, “A Feminist Critique of the Post Secular City: God and Gender“, on the other hand, challenges the idea of the postsecular city, and points that though such a city is supposed to allow for space for women and religion, the reality often looks differently. As Greed points out, the very premise of the modern city is zoning, a practice that separates different activities in a city, and historically has excluded women from cities by “keeping women out of public life and civic space and within the domestic realm of house and home (Greed, 2011, p.106). Greed’s point is that although feminism has gone through stages rooted in both religious belief and secularism, what we have now is a theoretical appreciation of the postsecular city without any indication that this appreciation can create real change.

Greed also argues that talk does not create a more equitable built environment, and points to the success (or lack thereof) of faith communities in submitting building applications as an indication that the postsecular city is not necessarily friendly towards faith identities:

“Research shows that planning officers tend to treat planning applications by both Christian and Muslim faith groups with suspicion, as likely to be linked to ‘fundamentalism’ and therefore to be dismissed as socially divisive, when in reality, faith based groups (and buildings) often provide inclusive social, economic and community facilities and contribute to urban regeneration (CAG, 2008, quoted by Greed, 2011,112)

(To be continued..)

Change needs Resources – Lessons from Campaign Organizing

Strong communities require investment (Vancouver Law Courts, BC)

Creating strong communities requires investment. When I finished graduate school, I had an understanding of community development and of social issues, but I didn’t know very much about how to mobilize resources in order to create community change. To change that, for the past year and a half I’ve worked in the non profit sector helping to create safe, healthy and inclusive communities. Coming from a social policy and planning background, I wanted to learn more about how community investment actually happens. In 2012, our campaign team raised over $600,000 for local communities, and in 2013, we’ve raised nearly half a million dollars.

Below, a few basic lessons I’ve learnt over the past 18 months about developing campaigns.

1) Keep exceptional records. Record keeping matters because you need to know your audience and your data. Though I started out as a reluctant learner, I’ve discovered that Excel is my friend, and that the more you know about your donors the better. Whether it’s knowing why donors choose to give or not, or the length of time they’ve been giving, or how their giving amounts increase and decrease over time, all of these things (and much more!) are important to know.

2) Tailor communications to match donors at different levels. Your high value, leadership donors may want to hear different messages from donors who are just starting out. They may respond to different incentives. Think about what motivates your particular donor group(s) (or desired donor group) and what they care about. Raising funds has to do a lot with storytelling. Tell a genuine story about a problem that needs solving, that has a clear call to action and addresses issues that matter to your donor base. Ensure that you have regular meaningful reminders, but that you aren’t overloading potential donors with too much messaging.

3) In person programming matters. You can’t run a campaign on online/email messaging alone. People often choose to give/become part of a campaign because of a connection they have to a cause in their own lives, the conversations they have in person, and the people they meet at your events. Donor breakfasts and other recognition events matter.

4) Have a plan for the campaign season. It should have peaks that build up over time. Have a communication strategy for your different communication channels that can act as your guide through campaign season. Stories resonate with audiences and are remembered more than specific facts and numbers. (though the hard data is still important).

5) Make sure to follow up. Even when someone has been giving to a cause for a long time, they may forget to give one particular year. Or an email may get lost in their inbox. Or they may mistakenly think they’ve given already. It’s important to follow up – (phone is best) with your high value donors that give regularly. To help organize this follow up, you may want to decide to only follow up with donors who give above a certain level, or have been giving for a certain number of years.

6) Aim to grow your donor base. Can people be cultivated from one level to another? The relationship donors have with the campaign you’re running is not static, and needs cultivation and care. A high value donor is the equivalent of many more smaller gifts and should be your ultimate goal. If someone is giving $100/yr now, have a goal of growing their contributions over time. There may be specific incentives that may help with this process, such as invitation to a certain event, a gift matching program or a draw for prizes..

7) Relationships and emotional connection to a campaign matter. In a climate of increasingly online giving, it’s easy to forget about the individual ask. The most successful asks are often 1-1 to people that you know. Help people become comfortable in asking people in their own network to get involved. Be focused on your ask. Your most likely audience are people who are connected to your issue for a particular reason.

8) You need to know the specificity of your context. Recognition celebrations matter, but you need to know what works for your donor group. Some people want to be thanked extensively, some people don’t like to be thanked at all, and prefer to be more anonymous in their giving habits. People from different professions and life stages may connect with different messages differently. Filter “best practices’ advice through your knowledge of the audience you are trying to connect with.

9) Stay fresh and consistent. Try new things. Change the look of your campaigns. Experiment with new ideas.

10) User experience matters – how do people want to donate? Who is it that people are connecting with when they send an email/make a phone call? Is it easy to go from ‘a feeling of wanting to get involved” to actually making a commitment? Are your websites easy to navigate?

11) The little things matter. Send a thank you letter (by post!) to every donor. Cultivate a relationship over time.

12) Stay humble, and know that results do not lie in your control.

A Month of Love – Striving for Prophetic Closeness

Let your diversity manifest the beauty that is within each of you. ~Habib Ali al Jifri, Toronto Grand Mawlid, Jan 1st 2014.

It’s the month of Rabi al Awwal, the month in the Islamic calendar when the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him was born. It’s a wonderful time to learn more about him, and to strive to improve one’s own character. Whether it’s reading a new (or old!) book, listening to audio lectures, sending blessings upon him, journaling, writing poetry, expressing yourself through other creative forms, there are so many ways to make this month one that is personally meaningful to you.

Last year I read two introductory accessible books about the Prophet that I found very beneficial:

a) Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time by Karen Armstrong
b) In the Footsteps of the Prophet, by Tariq Ramadan

Learning Goals, Jan 2014.

Both books taught me about the beauty of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, and showed me ways to become a better person. This year my goal is to follow a podcast by the Qalam Institute about the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him by Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda, my teacher in Dallas and to follow a series through the Muslim Chaplaincy at the University of Toronto called Embodied Light about the character of the Prophet. Instead of trying to listen to a certain amount of content, and trying to take copious notes, I’m going to strive instead for presence of heart when listening. As I listen, during the month, I’m going to try to recite blessings on the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, as a way to become more peaceful on the inside. I’m in a life stage of much transition and change, and in need of a spiritual tune-up, and I’m hoping a month of love will help strengthen my heart.

What are your goals for the month ahead? Share in the comments below, and if you are sharing your reflections online as you go through the month, please do email or use the hashtag #amonthoflove so others can join in your learning as well.

Placemaking, Creative Cities and Strong Libraries

The City Centre Library, Surrey BC

Lets recognise something that we have in Canada that we don’t want to lose. That we can grow and protect if we choose. Libraries are modern community hubs, interactive educational haunts where people meet across communities, interests, generations. As things in our world seem to become wired, complex and isolated, we need public places of learning, access and invitation more than ever. Canada really is a country of libraries…”
Jian Ghomeshi, 3 Cheers for Libraries, Dec 20th Q Opening Essay.

I found myself nodding yesterday listening to Jian Ghomeshi’s essay on the excellence of Canadian libraries. A couple of years ago I looked at the creation of the City Library in Surrey, BC and the Toronto Reference Library Re:vitalize project, and what I discovered was that great cities are home to exceptional libraries. Libraries produce public culture and are a physical manifestation of “shared meanings and values of public life” (Leckie and Hopkins, 2002, p.327). Central libraries in particular, “make a physical statement about the library as an integral part of civic culture, and make visible a symbolic statement about knowledge in society“ (p.327). Developing vibrant, creative and financially robust cities requires active public spaces, strong communication channels and iconic places (Landry, 2008), and the Surrey City Centre Library and the Toronto Reference Library Re:vitalize project embody all three of these qualities in different ways. The Surrey City Centre Library places a greater emphasis on public space, and is part of the City of Surrey’s attempt to transform Whalley, “Surrey’s least desirable neighbourhood” (Sinoski, 2011) into a new high-density downtown core. The Toronto Reference Library on the other hand, focuses on the development of knowledge and positions Toronto as part of a worldwide scholarly and information conversation. How these projects act as public spaces, communication channels and iconic buildings, connect to a broader vision of their respective cities.

To be creative cities, cities today need a mix of both soft and hard infrastructure. Hard infrastructure are things like roads that connect the city, whereas soft infrastructure create pathways for people to meet one another, exchange ideas and develop relationships (Landry, 2008, p.xxiii). To create soft infrastructure, the development process must shift to include considerations of how design nurtures and encourages communication between different people (p.xxiii). Soft infrastructure means that a city has an abundance of “third places”, defined as “neither home nor work where people can be together” (p.xxiii). A range of spaces in the city qualify as third places; they are quiet or energetic spaces, spaces that incorporate green elements and other aesthetic features, and spaces that are equipped with technological features (p.xxiii). Public spaces contribute to creativity because they allow people to “go beyond their own circle of family, professional and social relations. The idea of the public realm is bound up with ideas of discovery, of expanding one’s horizons, of the unknown, of surprise, of experiment and of adventure” (p.119) For Landry, public space “is at the heart of the innovative milieu” (p.119). Libraries today are one of few non-commercial third spaces in the city.

In addition to public space, municipal governments need to provide opportunities for lifelong learning (p.63). Libraries are significant because they provide accessible learning opportunities and act as communication channels to information, one of the most important factors in encouraging creativity in cities (p.122). The function of communication channels is to “back up information resources”, because “the greater the information ‘density’ and exchange, the easier it is for creative individuals and institutions to keep abreast of events and best – practice developments, both within the city and outside it” (p.122).

Canada is a country of libraries, and in Ontario, libraries have been a feature of the urban landscape since 1882 (Leckie and Hopkins, 2002, p.327). The Toronto Public Library system has ninety-nine branches and its central branch is the 400,000 square foot Toronto Reference Library. This library has been part of Toronto for a hundred years, but opened at its present Yonge and Bloor location on Nov 2^nd 1977. In 2007, the Reference Library began a five – year revitalization project with a total cost of thirty-four million dollars. The City of Toronto contributed fourteen million dollars through its municipal capital funds, the Province of Ontario contributed ten million dollars, and the remaining funds are being raised through a capital campaign called Re:vitalize. The campaign began in 2009 and is the first public capital campaign in the Library’s history.

The upgrades are meant to position the Library as an “information hub of Toronto” and Toronto’s “foremost public centre for lifelong learning, the exchange of ideas and community engagement” (2009, About Re:vitalize). Though being an exceptional communication channel is the library’s primary focus, it will also be a vibrant public space and iconic Toronto building. The new library is being designed to make it more obvious to the street and surrounding area, and will feature a special collection rotunda to emulate the reading rooms of other great libraries worldwide, more research and study spaces, “Idea Gardens”, study pods, and a “Global Connect Wall” (complete in Dec 2013!) of real-time worldwide news updates and enhanced technological resources and features within the library itself (2009, About Re:vitalize). The library’s vision of greenery, networked spaces and areas of differing energy levels matches Landry’s description of the attributes of successful third spaces. As an iconic Toronto building, the Library’s contribution to “elevating the streetscape with great design is in itself a cultural contribution” (Hahn, 2011).

As an information hub specifically, the Library describes itself an important contributor to Toronto’s overall economic, social and cultural health. In terms of its contribution to Toronto’s economic health, it notes for its thousands of daily users, the Library supports “workforce readiness, small businesses and place-based economic development” and that “business people and the creative community use the Toronto Reference Library as “they develop and grow our city” (2009, About the Toronto Reference Library).

The library’s relevance as an exceptional communication channel for Toronto’s creative community is evident in its existing resources. Specific resources in the Toronto Reference Library include the Baldwin Room, which dates back to 1883 and houses items of historic importance to Canadians, the Arthur Conan Doyle collection with works about Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, and the Art Room that houses items related to Canadian and international performing and visual arts and other rare art collections (Skinner, 2011). All these collections house items that are not found at other branches.

In terms of cultural contributions, the Library offers a variety of opportunities to learn for its diverse membership and according to its website, does more to support lifelong public learning than any other public institution in the city. In particular, the Library makes a noteworthy contribution to Toronto’s cultural life through its ongoing schedule of talks in the Appel Salon by authors, artists, and other thinkers. The Appel Salon was created through a three million dollar gift to Re:vitalize, and is meant to be Toronto’s “premiere public space for cultural programming, civic discourse and community engagement” (About Re:vitalize). Outside of the Salon, the Human Library is another important project that provides Torontonians an opportunity to meet others from many different walks of life by “signing” them out for an hour of conversation.

In contrast to the Toronto Reference Library’s focus on information, the Surrey City Centre Library in British Columbia is an 82,000 square foot library that is partly a community centre, and partly a place for book-lovers to gather. Unlike many community centres or bookshops however, the library is a Silver Leed certified building and features language classes, business seminars, a coffee shop, a “teen lounge, and gaming area, a world languages collection, quiet and silent study areas, a children’s section, living room reading lounge, outreach services for the visually impaired, and even a meditation room” (Reid, 2010). At present, the Surrey City Centre Library is the most technologically equipped library in the province.

To create all theses spaces, the City Centre Library features natural light, and interconnected, private and community spaces to accommodate diverse uses. There is creativity within the design of the building because different uses can be found together that “are revealed as patrons explore the building” (Arch Daily, August 2011). The Library is meant to feel like “an extension of the patron’s home” and like Landry’s description of successful public spaces, aims to “intrigue and entice users throughout the building” (Arch Daily, August 2011). Like Landry suggests, the library’s goals of supporting education, gathering and connection are enabled by the design of the library instead of design being a secondary consideration in the development process (Landry, 2008, xxiii)

The design of the building was not an accident. Heeding Landry’s call to pay attention to iconic buildings, Mayor Watts notes that “one of the things we wanted in our city centre was an iconic building, and the regional library is definitely that” (Saltman 2010). In another report, she mentioned the library is meant to be an “architectural landmark’ and a “gathering space” (Reid, 2010). In the City’s official press release however, she makes the clearest link between Landry’s ideas and the City Centre Library:

Our new library has already become a wonderful community gathering spot and is attracting visitors from all across the region, creating a new cultural and social hub in the city,” said Mayor Dianne Watts. “It is architecturally stunning and provides an iconic landmark for City Centre. I believe that innovative and unique architecture has the ability to shape a city’s identity and create the heart and soul of a community. ~City of Surrey, 2011.

The total cost to build the Surrey City Centre library was thirty-six million dollars. Sixteen million dollars of the needed funds came from the City of Surrey, and ten million dollars of funding came from the provincial and federal government respectively (Reid, 2010). The library opened in September 2011, and is a significant first step of a broader creative strategy to create a high-density Surrey downtown called the “City Centre” that makes Surrey the “main business, cultural and social hub for the city and the South Fraser region” (Reid, 2010). The library is the first project in a series of capital infrastructure projects the City intends to build until 2016. Other projects planned include a new performing arts centre, a new 165,000 square City Hall and an outdoor plaza with a capacity for five thousand people. Ten years ago, the City of Surrey and Bing Thom Architects developed the Central City project, which is located across the street from the City Centre library and features office space, a shopping centre and the Surrey campus of Simon Fraser University. When viewed together, the Surrey City Centre is similar to the “classic physical public space” Landry describes that includes cultural space, a university, a library, a city hall and market space (Landry, 2008, p.119)

In conclusion, there is a connection between creative cities and strong libraries. Great libraries are vibrant public spaces. In Surrey, the City Library is a vibrant community space that is intended to gather people together and help them imagine Surrey in different ways, and Toronto is strengthening the incredible information resources that Reference Library already contains. Like libraries across the country, both play a vital role in supporting the economic and cultural life of their home cities, and are cause for celebration. Three cheers for libraries indeed!

References

Amber, P. (2011, August 18^th) In Progress: Surrey City Centre Library/Bing Thom Architects. Arch Daily.
Architects and Artisans. (2011, August 16^th). In Surrey B.C, A Library by Bing Thom.
City of Surrey. (2011, Sept 24^th). Dynamic and Unique City Centre Library Officially Opens Downtown.
Hahn. K. (2011, August 20^th). “Turning the Page on sleek architecture; Toronto Public Library beautifies cityscape with stylish renovations. Toronto Star, (August 20^th 2011)
Landry, C. (2008). The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovators. London: EarthScan.
Leckie, L.G., J. Hopkins. (2002). The Public Place of Central Libraries: Findings from Toronto and Vancouver. Library Quarterly. 72(3): p.326-372.
Reid, M. (2010, Nov 17^th).City Centre Library: Not Just Books. Surrey/North Delta Leader.
Saltman, J. (2011, June 10^th). A Library for the Future. The Province.
Skinner, J. (2011, August 25). “Libraries cater to the libraries that they serve”. Inside Toronto. Retrieved from Nov 10^th, from
Taylor, S. Downtown Surrey BIA. (Oct 2009) A New Library for Downtown. The View.
Toronto Reference Library Campaign. Toronto Public Library Foundation Announces Historic Fundraising Campaign in Support of Toronto Reference Library Revitalization Project
Toronto Reference Library Campaign. About the Toronto Reference Library.