“Off the Clock” is where staff can share their personal announcements, activities, and accomplishments. Have a new addition to your family? Participated in an athletic event? Wrote a novel? Drove around Iceland? Share your news with communications.assistant@utoronto.ca, so we can celebrate with you!
Jacqueline Whyte Appleby, Scholarly Resources Librarian at Scholars Portal, is delighted to share the news that baby Ambrose was born on September 17, four weeks ahead of schedule but a hearty 7lb 6 oz.
David Eden, Stacks Supervisor, Robarts Library, is directing a play, Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel. The award-winning play that has seen productions around the world will come to the Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street. It previews on October 18th and runs October 19-20, October 25-27, and November 1-3, at 8 p.m., with a matinee on October 21 at 2pm.
This extraordinary play is the story of five unmarried sisters eking out their lives in a small village in Ireland in l936. We meet them at the time of the festival of Lughnasa, which celebrates the pagan god of the harvest with drunken revelry and dancing. Their spare existence is interrupted by brief, colourful bursts of music from the radio, their only link to the romance and hope of the world at large. The action of the play is told through the memory of the illegitimate son of one of the sisters as he remembers the five women who raised him, his mother and four maiden aunts. He is only seven in 1936, the year his elderly uncle, a priest, returns after serving for twenty-five years as a missionary in a Ugandan leper colony. For the young boy, two other disturbances occur that summer. The sisters acquire their first radio, whose music transforms them from correct Catholic women to shrieking, stomping banshees in their own kitchen. And he meets his father for the first time, a charming Welsh drifter who strolls up the lane and sweeps his mother away in an elegant dance across the fields. From these small events spring the cracks that destroy the foundation of the family forever. Widely regarded as Brian Friel's masterpiece, this haunting play is Friel's tribute to the spirit and valor of the past.
David has directed plays at Village Playhouse, most recently Cake-Walk by Colleen Curran, and has directed revivals of James Reaney’s The Easter Egg and The Killdeer. He recently directed Bakersfield Mist at the Theatre Centre and again for the Toronto Fringe Festival.
Teresa Pietropaolo-De Marco, Scholarly Communication and Licensing Specialist, participated in the CIBC Run for the Cure this past weekend to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. She and her friends have been doing this for 8 years. It was great seeing all the participants for this great cause. It was inspirational to see a sea of pink at King’s College Circle.
Leanne Trimble is proud to announce the arrival of her daughter, Claire Elizabeth Trimble, on Sunday, September 23. Parents and child are doing well, getting used to the new routines, and looking forward to coming by the library to visit in the weeks to come! So far, she loves cuddles, warm blankets, and to have her hands swaddled close to her face.
Catherine Duff, Reader Registration, Robarts Library, participated in the GTA Grand Fondo Epic Tour this past weekend in Halton Hills. She completed the 100 km road cycle on Sunday in 5 hours and 27 minutes – it was windy, with lots of hills, yet a great ride.
Catherine hopes to have library colleagues join her next year!
David Eden, Stacks Supervisor, directed a play entitled "Bakersfield Mist" at the Trinity-St. Paul's Centre earlier this month.
Gordon Belray, Information Architect and Imaging System Administrator, Information Technology Services, had his work profiled in a feature article in the Dutch news paper de Volkskrant.
Gordon Belray, Information Architect and Imaging System Administrator, Information Technology Services, had artwork published in two new books from Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio: International Painting Annual and International Photography Annual.
In addition, a detail from his Martin Luther King image was published in a Condé Nast (New York) Special Edition on Dr. King.
Alexa Evans, Collection Development Department, and her partner Jeff are very pleased to announce the arrival of their daughter Josephine. She arrived on April 5 at 9:44 pm, weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces. They were discharged on Saturday afternoon and are recovering well at home.
Tanis Franco, Archivist at the UTSC Library, had a poetry book, Quarry, published with the University of Calgary Press in January.
On February 20, 2018 from 8:00 pm - 10:30 pm, Rudy Fearon, Senior Preservation Associate, will be hosting The Art Bar Poetry Series at the Free Times Cafe for their Black History Month Poetry Celebration. More information can be found at this link.
Carey Toane, Entrepreneurship Librarian, has welcomed a new baby! Carey's son, Nelson, arrived at 9:41 on the morning of January 19, 2018 at a very healthy 8lbs 6 oz. Mom and baby are both doing well, and big brother Noah and daddy Karri are thrilled. Carey will be on maternity leave until January 2019.
Tim Neufeldt and his partner welcomed their daughter into the world at 8:40 am, Saturday December 2. Congratulations from all of Tim's colleagues at the Faculty of Music Library!
November 22, 2017
For the second year running, one of Gordon Belray's artworks (The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy) was a selected as a semi-finalist for Manifest Gallery’s Annual One Prize (Cincinnati, OH) and will be included their upcoming exhibition catalogue.
Here’s is what they said about the competition:
"Our jury process included multiple levels of review by a total of 18 different jurors from all across the U.S. Each level resulted in fewer works passing on to the next level until we reached a winner and ten semi-finalists. So being among the final eleven (top 1%!) is a remarkable achievement if you take into account the depth and severity of our jury. We received 1060 entries from 335 artists for this Manifest Prize. So it should be clear your work was extremely competitive, and considered truly exceptional by our jury."
November 14, 2017
Alpharabius at Toronto Reference Library
Tuesday November 21, 2017 | 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
"As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations for the Toronto Reference Library, we are pleased to host a musical performance by Alpharabius, an ensemble that explores both the similarities and differences of medieval Western and Arabic classical music. George Sawa, Andrea Budgey, Randall Rosenfeld and Suzanne Meyers Sawa collaborate to perform mystical Sufi music from the early Ottoman court, traditional songs from Egypt and Syria, troubadour poetry, thirteenth-century devotional songs from Spain, and fourteenth-century dances from Italy."
Find out more here.
November 13, 2017
Thanks to Everyone Who Supported the Legal Eagles
A hearty congratulations to the Bora Laskin Law Library and the Faculty of Law’s Legal Eagles (and friends and family) for their successful CN tower climb. Team members, Sooin Kim, John Bolan, Tricia Cain, Ibrahim Fadel, Reem Elsobky, Emma Giono, David Medves, Gian Medves, Julia Medves, Maressa Singh raised over $2,000 for the United Way. This is the Legal Eagles’ 4th climb and they have cumulatively raised approximately $10,000 for this very good cause.
Thanks to you all for supporting the team.
October 31, 2017
Sponsor the Legal Eagles CN Tower Climb for the United Way
On November 5 , the Legal Eagles, a team of law librarians and faculty will climb the 1,776 steps of the CN Tower to raise money in support of the United Way. United Way Toronto is an umbrella organization that partners with and provides funds to many agencies, projects and initiatives in Toronto. Please consider sponsoring our team and their efforts to make Toronto a better place to live, work and raise our families.
To sponsor our team please go to our Team Page.
Thank you all so much
Sooin Kim: Team Captain
Susan Barker: Team Manager
October 23, 2017
Rudy Fearon has been invited to a reception on Parliament Hill to launch the publication of The Good Lands, in which his poem, “Red River” was published.
August 15, 2017
Gordon Belray has two works in an upcoming publication, International Annual of Photography 5, which received 953 submissions from 266 artists from 11 countries. The publication will include 77 works by 51 artists from 5 countries including Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, and the United States.
As well, Gordon has work on exhibit in a group show, After Hiroshima in Treviso, Italy.
August 8, 2017
Rudy Fearon will be hosting a reading at the Art Bar on August 15 at 8pm, featuring readings by Pearl Pirie, Chuck Carlise and Darrell Epp.
Find more information about the reading and other events at the Art Bar at http://www.artbar.org/.
July 18, 2017
Congratulations to the Graham Library's Cataloguing & Digital Services Librarian, Kate MacDonald, who welcomed a daughter, Siobhan Clementine Rathbone on July 6th.
June 6, 2017
Rudy Fearon's poem, "Red River" will be included in The Good Lands Project. Read the poem, and more about the project below:
Rudyard Fearon
there is a river
running
inside these veins.
blood red
angry river
running
inside these veins.
bubbling river
bursting
through these veins.
old river
haunting these veins.
pulsing river
old river
angry river
blood red river
where is my name?
"In 2016, a group of curators came together to develop a project to rethink how we see our landscape. The project they developed comprises a book, a website and a national program of walks, to be developed by students in universities across the country, that explore this land through artists’ eyes. 'The Good Lands' project received Canada 150 funding in January 2017.
Fifty years ago in 1967 Chief Dan George reminded us that not everyone could celebrate the good lands that we share. Today, at last, we have begun a national process of reconciliation, so that all who live here can celebrate together. Through the work of our artists, this project aspires to contribute to this process.
In collaboration with Vancouver-based publisher Figure 1, we are preparing a commemorative book in English and French to mark the 150th anniversary of Canada. The Good Lands brings together the works of artists, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who have depicted this country as well as essays by Lee Maracle and Naomi Fontaine, and a forward by Senator Murray Sinclair. With the agreement of the curators, all royalties from the book will be donated to a foundation to promote the work of Indigenous artists."
April 4, 2017
Robarts Library's Stacks Supervisor, David Eden, has been invited to attend the ceremonies in France for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, as his grandfather was a soldier in the battle. He will be representing not just his family but the university as well.
The ceremony is on April 9 and will be broadcast live on CBC.
Read more about the event here and here.
April 4, 2017
Rudy Fearon is hosting a reading at the Art Bar on Tuesday, April 11 at 8pm (Click here for the Facebook Event), featuring readings by John Terpstra, Sharon Berg and Betsy Struthers.
Find more information about the reading and other events at the Art Bar here.
March 21, 2017
Electronic Resources Librarian, Eva Jurczyk, welcomed a baby boy on March 15. Henryk Roald Valentine was born at 1am, March 15, weighing 9 lbs and 6 oz.
All the best to you and your family, Eva!
March 14, 2017
Congratulations to Human Resources/Payroll Officer, Rebecca Carmichael, who welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Charlotte Sarah Evelyn Munday, on January 25th, 2017 (Robbie Burns Day) at 7:32am
March 14, 2017
Rudy Fearon's new ebook, The Dog Who Could Not Bark: & Other Children's Stories is now available for download on Amazon
March 7, 2017
Gordon Belray will be part of a group exhibition at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH starting March 10 through April 7, 2017.
They will be featuring his large print of the Trinity bomb test in New Mexico, which you can see here.
For more information, visit http://www.manifestgallery.org/about/schedule.html
February 14, 2017
Maria Buda of the Dentistry Library has legally changed her name to Maria Zych. Her new email address is maria.zych@utoronto.ca.
February 7, 2016
Fisher Library's Senior Preservation Associate, Rudy Fearon, is hosting a Black History Night at the Art Bar Reading Series on February 21 from 8:00 - 10:30 pm.
The event will include readings by Adebe DeRango-Adem, Cara-Lyn Morgan and Clifton Joseph. For more information visit artbar.org
January 17, 2017
Bravo David Eden! The Robarts Stacks Supervisor is also the director of "Cake-Walk", a play written by Colleen Curran, currently being performed at The Village Playhouse. The production premiered on January 13, and runs until February 4.
[View showtimes and ticketing information]
January 17, 2017
Communications Assistant, Lindsay Harker's 7-year-old daughter, Madeline, co-wrote a short film that is screening at the AGO on February 16th and 20th. "Cave Small Cave Big" is the first in an ongoing series of films written by children, in collaboration with artist and director, Jöele Walinga.
Tickets are free, and can be reserved here
December 13, 2016
Gordon Belray had an opening in a group show this past Friday Dec 9th 6-8pm at the Red Head Gallery. The exhibit featured Gordon's piece, "Hertz 12:30 or the Assassination of John F. Kennedy" (2012-14, 128” x 37.5”, Archival print), pictured below. To see more of Gordon's work, visit his website.
November 22, 2016
Kate MacDonald, Cataloguing & Digital Services Librarian at the Graham Library, is also a Celtic harpist. She recently played for Trinity College Chapel's Monday Music in the Chapel, an informal lunch series where U of T musicians can showcase a short set in the beautiful setting of the Chapel.
The event also provided an opportunity for our first foray into live broadcasting on the UTL twitter feed, so for those of you who missed it live, you can watch the video of Kate's performance here.
October 25, 2016
The Fisher Library's Senior Preservation Associate, Rudy Fearon, is also an established Canadian poet published on Canadian Poetry Online, and recently had two of his poems featured in a 'Poets of the Week' social media series by John LaRue. The poems in question are “me wife deh foreign”, and “Between The Trees”.
* Update -- Rudy received the following thank you note in response to his reading on November 1:
"I was so happy to hear you read Tuesday night, it was a pleasure and a privilege. I'm hoping you will grace our stage again in the not too distant future.
Let me say, on behalf of the audience, the Art Bar team, and myself - you were great - Thank you!"
October 18, 2016
Image: Gordon Belray, "Study for the Battle of the Somme: Two Peasant Women in Field", 64cm x 50cm, 2014, Archival print
UTL Information Architect, Gordon Belray has a piece of his artwork in an exhibition called Lands of Memory, in Vittorio Veneto, Italy. Gordon's work has previously been featured in exhibitions in Italy, and Slovenia, and he also has a work in the German online photography site Der Grief which is partnering with Berlin’s Fotomuseum: (Un)filtered Scenarios, An Experiment in Distributed Selection.
October 12, 2016
Congratulations to Kim Gyde (now Kim Gregory!)
Congratulations to our colleague Kim Gyde from the HR team at U of T Libraries who married her partner Alex on April 30, 2016 at Qssis Banquet Hall. Kim’s name has now officially changed to Kim Gregory and she has a new email address to go along with that: kim.gregory@utoronto.ca.
October 3, 2016
Angela Henshilwood, Faculty Liaison & Instruction Librarian at the Engineering & Computer Science Library, has welcomed a new baby boy, Finnegan James (Finn). Finn was born last Tuesday, September 20, and weighed 9lbs and 5oz. Congratulations, Angela!
September 6, 2016
In her spare time, Inforum Librarian Nalini Singh enjoys writing non-rhyming poetry, some of which has been published, but she also dabbles in rhyming poetry for work. Below are two poems she composed for the Inforum, one that sits at the reference desk and one to update students on the new food policy.
ODE FOR A REFERENCE DESK
Ask a question without fear!
We will help you make it clear.
At whatever stage your info quest
To find you answers, we'll do our best.
Quick facts; slow facts; search tips galore;
Help with resources: print, e–, and more!
Of our Reference Services, we are proud
Ask us by keyboard, or ask us aloud.
So bring those questions to the fore
And build up, perhaps, your knowledge store.
NOSHING IN THE NEW INFORUM
Come one, come all, come back to our new digs
Bring your snacks, your suppers & lunches
Carrot sticks & candy, apples, fresh figs
We’ve broadened our rules to allow student munches!
We ask you though, to please refrain
From messy hot foods like gravies & sauces
Though flavour enhancers of the drab & the plain
Our carpets fare badly, and we want no book losses.
August 2, 2016
Business Manager Glen Morales won a Bronze Medal standing at the World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) Championships in the Phillipines in his Single Stick division. Congratulations to Glen for winning a medal representing Canada. All of us at UTL are proud of his accomplishments!
July 26, 2016
Rita Vine, Head of Faculty and Student Engagement, competed at the July 2016 Toronto Open Swing and Hustle Championships, placing 2nd in the Pro-Am West Coast Swing Routines division (pictured here) with dance pro Nelson Clarke, and 4th in the Intermediate West Coast Swing Jack & Jill Division. Pro-Am routines are choreographed, while Jack & Jill competitions are designed to showcase a competitor's skills in spontaneous swing dancing with a variety of partners.
June 21, 2016
On Friday June 10, Amanda Wagner of the Information Commons married her long-time partner, Lawrence Chapman, at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas!
June 13, 2016
Margaret Wall, Communications Librarian (on research leave), recently earned her first belt in Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art.
-
User Services Librarian Judith Logan recently completed her yoga teacher certification. She will be offering Hatha-style classes to library staff this summer. Contact her to learn more.
June 7, 2016
Digital Initiatives Librarian Kelli Babcock welcomed a daughter, Frances Olive MacKenzie, on April 27th.
-
Glen Morales, Business Manager, recently won 1st Place in both single stick and double stick fights at a Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) Canadian Qualifier tournament in Toronto. He will fly to Cebu, Philippines to represent Team Canada at the upcoming World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation (WEKAF) Championships in July 2016. The tournament will be held over 3-days where he will compete in both single/double-stick events as well as team sparring. A total of 33 countries from around the globe will be competing for gold. To anybody interested in learning more about Eskrima/FMA please visit: http://www.combatscience.net/
May 30, 2016
Springtime often brings cute baby animals, and who is this little lamb? Well, actually, don't let the hat fool you this baby is a Wolf. Katya Pereyaslavska, Accessibility Librarian at Scholars Portal, welcomed a baby boy, Wolfgang Flint Spong, on November 28th. Wolfgang now celebrates 6 months of awesome costumes and adventurous librarian parents.
-
The warmer weather also means running season for some UTL staff members:
Julie Hannaford, Deputy Chief Librarian, recently ran in the 120th Boston Marathon.
Copyright Outreach Librarian Nelly Cancilla ran her first half marathon in Mississauga on May 1st (pictured on the left, with a friend).
Reg Matson, Senior Technology Support Administrator, ran in the Toronto Goodlife Fitness Half-Marathon on May 1st, and finished in 1:30:42. (Overall Place: 98/3282)
