Remembrance Day 2008

Markham Village Library is located on the site of the Markham Village cenotaph. In 2008, the Markham District Veterans Association Remembrance Day service was held on Nov. 8, with a parade down Main Street to the cenotaph for the wreath laying in honour of fallen soldiers. Commemorative wreaths were laid recognizing the 90th anniversary of the First World War, and honouring, among others, Matthew Rae - see also http://www.markham.ca/mpl/Hot%20Topics/ht_mattrae.htm

Helene Boudreau Visits our Living Room

Author Helene Boudreau visited Markham Village on November 28, 2008, to perform a reading from her newly published book Acadian Star. She is a great supporter of the Public Library and had many kind comments about our branch - see her blog at http://www.heleneboudreau.com/?page_id=181

All Candidates Meeting in the Living Room

During the 2008 federal election, the Living Room provided an open and inclusive venue for an all candidates meeting, providing an opportunity for all constituents to participate in civic life. This kind of event fulfills our vision for the Living Room as a community gathering place, and positions the library as a unifying force that helps to develop a sense of community.

Events in the Living Room

On the upper level, the Library "Living Room" provides a large seating area beside the fireplace and the big south windows. With lots of comfortable lounge seating, windowseats, magazines, and a warm sunny atmosphere, the Living Room is used for both casual gatherings and large events like the Meg Tilly author visit on November 21st, 2008. Meg blogged about her visit at http://www.officialmegtilly.com/blog/

Flower Furniture in the Pond Area

Building on the Pond theme in the Kids Area, we chose the brightly coloured and fun Agatha table and flower chairs from AMAT-3.

Study Space

As at Angus Glen, the Markham Village Library provides a range of study spaces, including 8 study rooms, and study tables and chairs at several points on the upper level. The mobile study tables (on lockable casters) were designed by the architect Shoalts and Zaback, and fabricated by Allwood Carpentry Manufacturing. The study chairs are the Piretti Xylon Chair from KI.

Seating Areas

The Markham Village Library has many casual seating areas, providing spaces for socializing, reading or informal study and laptop use, and positioning the branch as a "third place" - a community place outside of home and work where people choose to spend their time. On the Library's west elevation, overlooking the cenotaph park, we have a series of sunny window bays filled with welcoming and comfortable seating. The armchairs are Morgan from Keilhauer, covered in durable leatherette.

Casting Off the Cold

All kinds of things can happen in a library designed to be the community's living room - from social events to author readings, book club meetings, and more. Markham Village Library was designed to be a "third place" for its community - a place outside of work and home where people can come together. By providing comfortable seating, natural light, and a welcoming atmosphere, the library becomes a place for things like the weekly meetings of Casting Off the Cold, a volunteer organization whose members knit and crochet winter apparel for the unfortunate in the community.

Waiting for Opening Time

From the moment we opened the doors on December 15, 2007, Markham Village Library became a popular community destination, and is now our second busiest branch, with customers lining up as they wait for opening time.

Chairs for the Kids Space

Furniture for the Kids Space needed to be all about fun, while also being comfortable, sturdy and hard-wearing. We went with Kloud Armchairs from Neinkamper, upholstered in tough blue leatherette. Soft Leaf sidetables from Steelcase add another punch of bright colour.

Computer Chairs

For our computer workstation seating, we chose the comfortable Cachet Swivel Chair on casters, made by Steelcase.

Info Desks

Our Info Desks - mobile, nimble, and streamlined - are designed to support welcoming and proactive information services. They reflect a shift in our service model for Information Services - rather than sitting at a traditional intimidating fortress-like "Reference Desk" and waiting for customers to approach them, our staff are trained to rove the service area offering assistance at point of need. It's all about going to where the customer is rather than waiting for the customer to come to us. The small flexible Info Desk (or Service Point) provides an efficient home base for roving staff. It features lockable casters for easy moving, and is height-adjustable. It was designed by project architect Shoalts and Zaback Architects Ltd and fabricated by Allwood Carpentry Manufacturing.

Media Shelving

For DVDs and CDs, we introduced retail-style media cascade shelving units. For easy mobility, the units are built on lockable casters. Cascade media shelving displays materials face-out, to merchandize materials and enhance access for customers.

The units were designed by project architect Shoalts and Zaback Architects Ltd and fabricated by Allwood Carpentry Manufacturing.

Mobile Shelving Units

The collection shelving at Markham Village breaks away from the traditional library shelving layout of fixed parallel rows of stacks. To support flexibility, easy changes in layout, and the ability to clear the floor for special events, we introduced mobile shelving units. Built on lockable casters, the mobile units can be moved and angled and relocated as needed in response to service needs and future changes in our collections.

The mobile units were designed by our architect Shoalts and Zaback Architects Ltd, and fabricated by Carr McLean.

The Pond

The Pond in the Kids Space is designed for storytimes, Baby Goose programs, reading discovery, and just plain fun. With funds raised by our local Northern Karate school, the Pond was filled with a wonderful range of toys for learning and play.

Teen Space

The Teen Space at Markham Village Library was designed to create a space for casual dropin use by teens. Features include a multi-coloured ceiling light display, LCD screen, and Internet PC bar-style counter.

Enea Stools from Steelcase.

Celia Beny Lounge Chairs from Keilhauer.

Cal tables from Keilhauer.

Ripple Bench

In the Kids Area, the furniture was chosen to add blasts of colour and fun to the space. The undulating Ripple™ bench is by Brayton International, a Steelcase company.

Shoalts and Zaback Architects

Our architect for the Markham Village Library expansion and renovation project was Shoalts and Zaback Architects Limited of Kingston, Ontario. The project presented many complexities - a landmark existing structure, a location in a heritage district, close proximity to the Markham Arena, and a need to consult with many stakeholders. The architect responded brilliantly with a design that respects the key features of the 1981 Library, complies with heritage guidelines, complements the Arena, and with the new north wing, makes a bold move toward the street, enhancing our street presence and visibility.

In the Sorter Room

In the Sorter Room, returned items are automatically checked in, resensitized (for security purposes) and quickly sorted into 7 bins according to material type. With the 3M Sorter (nicknamed The Queen), we are really starting to reap the benefits of our investment in RFID and Self-Service Technology. Operationally, we have found that the formula of self-service + RFID drives efficiencies throughout the cycle of material flow, reduces material-handling and process steps for staff, and reduces FTE requirements related to material-handling. RFID is critical because digital-scanning is quicker, more efficient and more accurate than scanning with analog/barcode-label equipment.
For the customer a quicker turnaround time means that returned materials are more quickly available for borrowing – instead of sitting in a backlog of returned materials waiting for staff to manually check them in, the “right stuff” is quickly turned around and back on shelf for the next customer to borrow.

Self-Service Checkin

Based on our experience at Angus Glen, we knew that to keep pace with growth effectively and at the lowest cost possible, we needed to maximize efficiency in how we handle our material flow starting from the moment when customers return things they’ve borrowed. Our 3M SmartCheck system provides customers with quick, convenient, real-time checkin with a printed receipt listing returned items.

Self-Service Checkouts

Children are enthusiastic users of self-service checkout.

Self Service Checkouts

Markham Village has 4 self-service checkout stations, with staff always at hand to help customers learn how to use them. Our self-service strategy improves customer service and enables staff to keep pace with our increasing flow of materials.

The 1981 Library

Expanding an existing library is a different story to building a brand new one. We started with a 1981 building designed by architect Philip Carter in the postmodern style. It was located on a historic site - the former Markham Fairgrounds, and opened August 8, 1981. In honour of the land’s former usages, the building’s appearance was reminiscent of both the old fair grounds arena and a traditional native longhouse. The Library was widely admired and, in 1982, architect Philip Carter received a Governor General’s award for his design.

Our Historic Site - Markham Fairgrounds

Until 1976, the annual Markham Fair took place on its 30-acre grounds located at the southeast corner of Highway 48 (Main Street) and Highway 7 - now the site of the Markham Village Library. The Markham Fair began in the mid-19th century, and by 1900 had become one of the largest fall agricultural fairs in the country. The Fair site is now occupied by the Markham Village Library and the Markham Arena.

In this turn-of-the-20th-century postcard view, the 1894 Agricultural Hall known as the “Crystal Palace” is in the centre of the picture, facing north onto a two-lane dirt road (now Highway 7), with picket fences and smaller structures beside the gated entrance to the grounds. The hall was two storeys high , with the lower level used for exhibits of vegetables and fruit, and the upper level for ladies’ exhibits. The adjoining rink was used for exhibits during the Fair, and during winter was the centre of hockey and curling in Markham. Both the Crystal Palace and the rink burned to the ground on March 10, 1916.

Our Historic Site

The Markham Village Library sits on an historic site at the gateway to the Village of Markham. The Wellington Hotel stood on our site, at the southeast corner of Highway 7 and Main Street from 1836 to 1909.