Okay, so technically this was a trip to the High Park library branch. Technically, we were going to spend a lot of time there. But, the kids threw technicalities out the window and wanted to jump over to High Park. If you aren't familiar with Toronto, High Park is a gigantic green space, complete with a huge pond, giant playground, small zoo, pool and restaurant. It's pretty fantastic, and every summer we make the trek to the west end of the city and visit High Park. The first stop on this summer's trip - High Park library branch.
The first observation from my girls was that the High Park branch looks very similar to our local Beaches branch. Yep, the building's exteriors are very much alike. In fact, the two branches were designed by the same architects and they were built at the same time. Pretty good observation by my kids.
Inside we found the children's area located on the main floor. The branch was busy with a good variety of children - little ones and older kids. There was a long bench with cushions along one of the walls, a great place to cozy up and read with the kids.
When you take a flight of stairs up, we found a very open and well lit space - home of the adult non-fiction and fiction collection. All in all this humble library was a nice stop on our way to the park.
And, off to the park we went...
Back in March the original castle structure in the park was burned down by vandals. Out of the ashes grew a beautiful new castle for all the kids in the neighbourhood, and then entire city to enjoy. The community pulled together and erected the new playground remarkably fast. My girls had a great time playing in the new play structure. We always love spending time near the pond, spotting birds and turtles too.
Let's break it down...
parking - located on Roncesvalles Avenue, the streetcar stops nearby...there is plenty of paid street and neighbourhood street parking.
washroom - located my the main entrance
children's area - large space, with a great perch for reading...plenty of books for all ages.
bonus features - located in the booming Roncesvalles community which is filled with coffee shops, eco-friendly clothing boutiques and unique artisans...steps from High Park and all that it has to offer.
Next week will be our last instalment in our tour of Toronto's libraries. We would love to hear about your favourite library in your neighbourhood, or one that you have visited. Please leave the name of the library in the comment section below, or on our Facebook page. We would love to check out your fave library online and feature it next Thursday. Do you love visiting public libraries? Let us know all about it.
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