Toronto Public Library’s New Collection is the hottest book club in town
The Toronto Public Library has gone VIP.
By Nick Patch
October 31, 2015
For those who still view the library through a dust-crusted lens, it must seem the stuff of fiction: droves of fashionable young people gathering to kick back in the stacks.
Toronto Public Library’s New Collection has made it a reality. For $300 per year, Dewey devotees get access to intimate exclusive talks, insider status at other special library events — including private meet-and-greets with guests including Justin Trudeau — and perks at other literary events scattered around the city.
And the club has proven a persuasive draw for a demographic that might otherwise leave the library behind.
“For essentially a donation to the library, you are suddenly part of this ongoing conversation where you’re exposed to authors and books and ideas that open up a whole new world,” said David Sax, author of Save the Deli and a New Collection member.
“Even if you’re someone who reads a lot, who’s intellectually curious, it exposes you to things you wouldn’t normally get exposed to.”
Halloween heralds the organization’s third annual Hush Hush party, a costumed soiree (open to non-members) at the exemplary Bloor-Gladstone branch that has become the group’s marquee event..
Inspired by the New York Public Library’s Young Lions program, New Collection specifically targets a 19-45 age range and, according to members, seems to draw mainly 25-35-year-olds, a group whose library patronage might slow in the post-graduation, pre-parenthood stage of life.
Sax, for instance, concedes that he didn’t even have a library card until he attended a New Collection event as a featured guest.
“It got me back into the library. I grew up in Toronto and went to the library as a kid but I hadn’t had a library card in years. I bought books at Amazon, or the bookstore,” said Sax, 36.
“(This) totally changed the way I read, consume books, do research for the book I’m writing. And it’s showed me that there’s such a depth of resources in the system that I took for granted before.”
Beyond the program’s noble scholarly and charitable dimensions — $320,000 has been raised so far, with funds directed toward a variety of library programs, services, spaces and collections — there is also doubtless a degree of social appeal to gathering together young bookworms.
“I was there the other day watching the hockey guy, Mike Babcock, and I was like: ‘How did I not notice how many good-looking men are here?’” laughed member Jenna Parrett, 38. “It’s a lot of young, good-looking people.”
In fact, members do whisper about New Collection love connections.
“One of my best friends started dating his girlfriend at (Hush Hush),” said David Delaney, 31. “The (social aspect) is a huge part of it. If you can make sure people are having fun, they’re going to want to get involved, and just by getting involved, they’re supporting the library, whether they realize it or not.”
Of course, some would argue that the perceived exclusivity of New Collection runs counter to a public library’s duty for parity. Even some members of the program squirm at the notion of library privilege.
“I hate ‘VIP,’” Parrett said. “It’s uncomfortable for me. We get invited to the speaker series — they’re free for anybody … but they VIP us, let us sit up front, give us a drink ticket. And I’m just like: ‘Oh my God, I hate this!’
“I’m uncomfortable with the term ‘VIP,’ she continued, “but we pay membership fees, and I think the one thing it’s doing for the library is I’m talking about it all the time. So if it’s VIP, it’s in a really good way.”
Source: Toronto Star.com/Entertainment
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