re:vitalize - Toronto Reference Library Campaign

about re:vitalize

re:vitalize

re:vitalize – the Toronto Reference Library Campaign is a $10 million fundraising campaign being led by the Toronto Public Library Foundation in support of the $34 million renovation of the Toronto Reference Library. Combined with confirmed funding support from the City of Toronto and the Government of Canada, the re:vitalize Campaign provides a unique opportunity for all Torontonians to join in an important
city building project.

Our vision is to help Toronto Public Library recreate the Toronto Reference Library
as our city's foremost public centre for life-long learning, the exchange of ideas and community engagement.

Revitalization of the Toronto Reference Library began in 2007, and is scheduled for completion in 2013. A number of major elements have already been achieved:



The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library

State-of-the-art event space at the centre of the city

Opened in 2009, this new 16,800 square foot event space has emerged as one as our city's premiere cultural spaces. Comprised of three magnificent natural light-filled spaces - Epic Hall, The Prologue and the Novella Room - The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon is a place where all Torontonians can enjoy rich cultural programming that is accessible, compelling and engaging. When not in use for library programs, the space is available for rent for corporate and social events.

The Bram & Bluma Appeal Salon was made possible by an extraordinary leadership gift from the Bluma Appel Community Trust.

Features:



A new Glass Entrance Cube, Yonge Street Façade Expansion and a Revitalized Exhibition Gallery Space

Reaching out to the community through captivating transparent elements

One of the key goals of the Toronto Reference Library revitalization program was to create a dynamic new interface between the Library and its community by connecting the Library's interior more directly to the street, and the public to the services inside.

Features:

Other major elements are still to come:



The Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre

Bringing the whole of the Library's Special Collections together in one place

A spectacular 2-storey Rotunda will be constructed on the Library's 5th Floor as a new home for the Library's 1.9 million item Special Collections. Reminiscent of the great reading rooms of libraries past, the rotunda will bring prominence and increased accessibility to the Library's vast and inspiring Special Collections. The Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre will open in 2013.

The Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections is being made possible by an remarkable leadership gift from Marilyn and Charles Baillie.

Features:

Architectural Renderings: Moriyama & Teshima Architects

  1. Flamingo, The Birds of America: from Original Drawings,1826-1838, John James Audubon.
  2. Portrait of John Graves Simcoe, 1791. Jean Laurent Mosnier. Gift of Sir R. Leicester Harnsworth.
  3. Septentrionalium Terrarum Descripto, Gerard Mercator, Amsterdam: Jodocus Hondius, 1613. Gift of George Weston Ltd.
  4. Broadside: Government notice describing the duties of those granted land on Yonge Street, December 29, 1798.
  5. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle. In Beeton's Christmas Annual [London]: Ward, Lock [1887].



Enhanced Research and Study Areas

Spaces to support the new ways people seek, study and share information

The revitalization of the Reference Library will see innovative reconfiguration of study and research spaces on the second to fourth floors of the building. Subject departments will be refocused, rethought and realigned, making reference information and resources more accessible and usable. Individual and collaborative study spaces will be flexible, adaptable – even portable – to better facilitate exploration, discovery and information exchange. And custom furniture, open spaces and dramatic sight lines will allow for quiet reflection or serendipitous discovery.

Features:

Architectural Renderings: Moriyama & Teshima Architects



New and innovative technology

Optimizing connectivity and collaboration

New communication tools, more research stations and refurbished listening and learning labs will connect the public to Library resources, and marry the Library's new spaces with technology to enable individual and collaborative study, discovery and information exchange.

Features:

Architectural Renderings: Moriyama & Teshima Architects