I really do enjoy spending time in libraries, though I still find it odd how much of Toronto's collection is reference and thus materials cannot be removed from the library. I suppose it is really more that I enjoy browsing in libraries (though more often now through their on-line catalogues) and then taking books home.
As it happens, I've temporarily let my UT library privileges lapse (after quite a splurge in the last few weeks). I'll renew my card in the spring. Of course, immediately after this, I found a book I wanted to read (Late Breaking by K.D. Miller), though fortunately this was available from the Toronto Library. In addition, there was a new book on Vancouver housing policy (Mudflat Dreaming). In this case, I requested it as inter-library loan, but if they won't loan it (or charge for the loan), I'll just hold off until the spring. It's certainly not as if I don't have plenty to get through on my reading list. Even though I've picked up the pace quite a bit (having gotten through DeLillo's White Noise and Boyle's The Road to Wellville and most of the way through McCarthy's Birds of America and finally launching into Updike's Rabbit novels), I have many, many books at home to plow through. I don't really need to be getting more books out of Robarts, and my Toronto library branch is so much closer.
I was kind of excited to find out that one of the Ry Cooder soundtracks I wanted to listen to was in the Toronto reference library. In addition, they had two plays by Steven Dietz I could peruse. Now unfortunately, these were both reference copies, but I had a bit of time at the end of the day, so I headed over. I was able to listen to the CD, but then Dietz's Lonely Planet was nowhere to be found. I was fairly annoyed by this, since that meant I might have to wait until I head back to Chicago (perhaps in the very late spring) to give it a read. And indeed, what's the point of all this material being reference, if it isn't actually there when you want it?
I was debating whether I should try to put a trace on the book, but then looked through the catalogue again. It turns out that Lonely Planet is also in a collection of gay and lesbian themed plays. (It should be the entire play, though it is a bit hard to tell from the table of contents.) While most of the plays were pretty obscure, Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz was also in there. (I think I passed up a chance to see this, perhaps in Chicago, though if it comes back around, I'll most likely go this time around.) In any case, I found a copy of the anthology super cheap and just ordered it. While I would have preferred to get it from the library, at least I found out enough through the library to move forward and obtain a copy.
One relatively minor annoyance is that it is getting harder and harder to donate books to the library. Of course there are book dumping grounds, but if one has a quality book that should enter the collection (if it isn't in the collection), there is essentially no way for this to happen with the Toronto Public Library. Ostensibly it should be possible at Robarts, though they are temporarily suspending all donations. That said, I had a copy of a book by Barbara Comyns* that was fairly rare in North America, and I donated it a year ago. As far as I can tell, it wasn't accepted into the system. I'd like to donate a relatively rare Bohumil Hrabal book, though I suspect it will meet the same fate. Obviously, this was all so much easier 20 or 30 or 40 years ago, when entire collections were gladly scooped up. My books will just end up in the landfill.** Ah, the price of living in the 21st century...
* Speaking of Comyns, of all her novels, the one I rated the best was The Juniper Tree, which is a moderate inversion of the Grimm fairy tale of the same name. NYRB just brought this out a short while ago, so it is conveniently back in print. Unfortunately, Robarts doesn't seem interested in acquiring this edition (it has Methuen from 1985) nor does Toronto Public Library have a circulating copy. While I probably won't buy my own copy (as I'm relatively unlikely to read it again), I'll probably keep my eye out if the price drops significantly. Somewhat unusually, the Vancouver Public Library does have the right edition, but I don't think they would loan it through ILL for at least a year.
** Actually I was making very good progress on building my own Little Free Library until I was called away on a family emergency. I hope to wrap it up in a week or so, then start giving away a large stack of books I have accumulated.
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