Judging Whitby library by its cover: German group gives facility a good read
Place: Toronto, Whitby
Event: Article on the visit to Whitby Library by a German librarians' delegation, organized by the Goethe-Institut Toronto.
The Whitby Public Library has wowed its first group of international visitors just in time for Ontario Public Library Week. "It's perfect. It's a dream," said Birgit Lotz, one of 10 librarians from Germany who recently stopped at the central branch as part of a seven-day tour of libraries in the Greater Toronto Area. (…)
The tour, which took place Oct. 11, was organized and financed by the Goethe-Institut Toronto (German Cultural Centre) as well as the German Federal Cultural Foundation. It involved visits to libraries that ranged in size from larger facilities like Toronto to those smaller community libraries like Whitby. (…)
One of four members of an expert group dealing with international and cultural affairs for the German Library Association, Ms. Lotz said it's a great time of change for libraries in her native Germany. "There are new technologies, new services and demographic changes (at play)," she explained. "Our population is getting older, the population is shrinking and it's getting more multicultural. The best way to keep up to those changes is to anticipate new services," Ms. Lotz added. "It's good for us to see how others work."
Whitby Library CEO Ian Ross, who has played host to many groups from all over Canada and the United States since the central branch opened in May 2005, said such visits bring prestige to both the library and Whitby. (…)
Being featured in the Globe and Mail's special section on innovative public architecture and the Ontario Library Associations' quarterly magazine Access has generated a lot of interest in the Whitby Library in North America, Mr. Ross said.
"Our building is really a community gathering place," he added. "We have something for everyone, whether it's a businessman or a mother taking her child to a preschool program, or a senior learning to use the computers for the first time."
Event: Article on the visit to Whitby Library by a German librarians' delegation, organized by the Goethe-Institut Toronto.
The Whitby Public Library has wowed its first group of international visitors just in time for Ontario Public Library Week. "It's perfect. It's a dream," said Birgit Lotz, one of 10 librarians from Germany who recently stopped at the central branch as part of a seven-day tour of libraries in the Greater Toronto Area. (…)
The tour, which took place Oct. 11, was organized and financed by the Goethe-Institut Toronto (German Cultural Centre) as well as the German Federal Cultural Foundation. It involved visits to libraries that ranged in size from larger facilities like Toronto to those smaller community libraries like Whitby. (…)
One of four members of an expert group dealing with international and cultural affairs for the German Library Association, Ms. Lotz said it's a great time of change for libraries in her native Germany. "There are new technologies, new services and demographic changes (at play)," she explained. "Our population is getting older, the population is shrinking and it's getting more multicultural. The best way to keep up to those changes is to anticipate new services," Ms. Lotz added. "It's good for us to see how others work."
Whitby Library CEO Ian Ross, who has played host to many groups from all over Canada and the United States since the central branch opened in May 2005, said such visits bring prestige to both the library and Whitby. (…)
Being featured in the Globe and Mail's special section on innovative public architecture and the Ontario Library Associations' quarterly magazine Access has generated a lot of interest in the Whitby Library in North America, Mr. Ross said.
"Our building is really a community gathering place," he added. "We have something for everyone, whether it's a businessman or a mother taking her child to a preschool program, or a senior learning to use the computers for the first time."
by Lesley Bovie, newsdurhamregion.com, 15 October 2007
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