Memories of 1980-1994

When I was appointed Branch Head at the Weston Branch I must admit that I was filled with a lot of apprehension. I was very young and the thought of going through a renovation expansion and managing staff seemed very scary indeed. However, I was more prepared than I thought having worked in every department and branch in the Library system including technical services. The renovation/expansion was a lot of work and the staff was wonderful. We packed up all the books, sent them for storage at the school next door and during the closure inventoried and weeded the entire collection. The building had to be emptied out and the staff was responsible for this task too. Going through the old furnace room was like an archaeological dig; we found at least 4 Christmas trees, the entire Geological Survey of Canada (never used) and a working refrigerator all covered with black soot. After this experience I have never been afraid of weeding and vowed never to become a pack rat as many librarians seem to be. The most exciting part of the renovation was picking the shelving, furniture and shelving units, some of which I see still remain today.

Weston was very much like a small town when I first began working at the library and it was delightful to work with serious readers. The schools were great partners and we had at least 3-5 class visits every day. The programs were well attended and a delight to plan. As the years wore on the community and the library collections became much more diverse, catching up with the rest of the City of York.

The Branch had quite an extensive Toy lending library, the second to be established in Toronto; the first at the Jane-Dundas Branch. We were also on the location list for films. An episode of the Weston based Edison Twins was filmed in the branch as well as some exteriors for a De Grassi episode and a Burt Reynolds film, the latter’s library scenes hit the cutting room floor. These experiences were exciting for staff and patrons and made us a fair sum of money. In conjunction with my duties as Branch Head I was also the Coordinator of Public Relations which involved overseeing the production of quarterly advertising brochures for each branch as well as the follow-up marketing of specific programs. This Department was housed in the basement of the library and staffed by a publicist (Barbara Swyers), a secretary and a succession of wonderful graphic artists. Ah- those were the days!

What I remember most about the time I spent at Weston (14 years) was the excitement I had every morning coming to work. Things were never dull. The building was beautiful and the staff a great team who got along well for the most part and were always up to try almost anything. At that time Branch Heads were given a great amount of autonomy in how they ran their “ship” and it really was all up to you how things turned out.

— Bettijane O'Neill, October 2014