Programs

Presented in partnership with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, acclaimed artist and illustrator Maurice Vellekoop visits the Toronto Reference Library to discuss his new book, I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together. This graphic memoir tells the epic story of an aspiring queer illustrator surviving an intensely Christian family, coming of age and coming out in 1980s Toronto, becoming a successful artist and the long process of coming to terms with the traumas of childhood.

Meet little Maurice Vellekoop, the youngest of four children raised by Dutch immigrants in 1970s Etobicoke. The Vellekoops are devoted to art, music, and film, and they instill a deep reverence for the arts in young Maurice—except for literature. He’d rather watch Cher and Carol Burnett on TV than read a book. He also loves playing with his girlfriends’ Barbies and helping his Mum in her basement hair salon. In short, he is really, really gay.

Vellekoop struggles with intolerance at home and at school until he finds a welcoming community of bohemians at the Ontario College of Art, including a brilliant, flamboyantly gay professor who encourages him to come out. But just as he’s dipping his toes into the waters of gay sex and love, a series of disasters set him back. Maurice retreats to the safety of childhood obsessions, seeking to meet his emotional needs through film- and theatre-going, music, boozy self-medication, and prolific art-making. When these tactics inevitably fail, Vellekoop at last embarks on a journey of self-discovery. In therapy, a spiderweb of family, faith, guilt, and sexuality at last begins to untangle.

Author Maurice Vellekeep is joined by journalist Rachel Giese to discuss this enthralling portrait of what it means to be true to yourself, to learn to forgive, and to be an artist.

Q&A and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on April 18 at 9:00am ET.

About this event’s guests:

Maurice Vellekoop

Rachel Giese

Read more:

I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together

Boys: What It Means to Become a Man

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

In partnership with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

Note: This is an in-person event located in the Jack Rabinovitch Reading Room on the fourth floor of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street).

Arrive early, meet people. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends.

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Join us the last Wednesday of the month as we discuss 2SLGBTQ+ titles in a fun and welcoming space. Copies of monthly titles will be available at the Parkdale branch or as an ebook on the Libby app. 

Drop in, no registration required. All are welcome!

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program

Join us the last Wednesday of the month as we discuss 2SLGBTQ+ titles in a fun and welcoming space. Copies of monthly titles will be available at the Parkdale branch or as an ebook on the Libby app. 

Drop in, no registration required. All are welcome!

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks' notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Join us on Saturday June 1st from 11-12 PM for reading with pride stories, songs and rhymes for children birth to age 5 with their parents or caregivers.

Registration required. Please register in person at the Mount Pleasant Branch or by calling 416-393-7737. 

If you or your child lives with a disability, and requires an accessibility accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Accessibility Services by email accessibleservices@tpl.ca, or voicemail, 416-393-7099, to make a request. Please contact us at least three weeks in advance. 

Si vous vous considérez, votre enfant ou vous-même, comme des personnes handicapées ou sourdes et que vous avez besoin de ce document en format accessible ou d’une mesure d’adaptation pour participer à ce programme, veuillez communiquer avec accessibleservices@tpl.ca, 416-393-7099 ou utilisez le formulaire en ligne au tpl.ca/accessibility pour faire une demande. Veuillez communiquer avec nous au moins trois semaine à l’avance.

Join us for a special Rainbow Storytime where we celebrate all children and families! The Storytime will include a range of inclusive books, stories, songs and rhymes that foster acceptance, embrace diversity, and help get kids ready for reading! This event is part of Toronto Public Library's ongoing Pride series. For 2SLGBTQ+ events, reading lists, videos and more, check out tpl.ca/pride.

Join us for a Jazz concert in celebration of Pride Month! Janet Whiteway is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter who has spent the past 20 years performing original music, playing in cover bands, and working in musical theatre throughout Toronto. For this concert, she will be singing and playing piano for a solo performance. Drop in program. No registration required. For more information, please contact the Arts Department at 416-393-7157). 

If you identify as a person with a disability and require an accessibility accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Accessibility Services by email, accessibleservices@tpl.ca, or voicemail, 416-393-7099, to make a request. Please contact us at least three weeks in advance.

Journalist and podcast host June Thomas discusses her new book, A Place of Our Own, a deeply researched and highly readable cultural history of queer women’s lives in the second half of the twentieth century, told through six iconic spaces. 

For as long as queer women have existed, they’ve created gathering grounds where they can be themselves. From the intimate darkness of the lesbian bar to the sweaty camaraderie of the softball field, these spaces aren’t a luxury—they’re a necessity for queer women defining their identities. A Place of Our Own invites readers into six iconic lesbian spaces over the course of the last sixty years, including the rural commune, the sex toy boutique, the vacation spot, and the feminist bookstore.

Author June Thomas speaks with writer, broadcaster, and community animator Jane Farrow about about the business owners, entrepreneurs, activists, and dreamers who shaped the long struggle for queer liberation, and what is gained and lost in the shift from the exclusive, tight-knit women’s spaces of the ’70s toward today’s more inclusive yet more diffuse LGBTQ+ communities.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on May 15 at 9:00am ET.

Important information for accessing this live virtual event:

• You must register for a free ticket via Eventbrite to gain access to this event.
• This event will be presented in a Zoom Webinar. Once registered, you will receive reminder emails from both Zoom and Eventbrite with links and instructions to access your unique Zoom Webinar link to watch this event.
• At the time of the event, you must be signed in to Zoom or Eventbrite with the same email address that you used to book your ticket in order to access your unique event link.

About this event’s guests:

June Thomas

Jane Farrow

Read more:

A Place of Our Own

***

This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

***

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Join us for songs and stories lead by Gila Münster! For children and their caregivers. For ages 3 and up.

Drop-in. No registration required.

If your child lives with a disability, and requires an accessibility accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Accessibility Services at accessibleservices@tpl.ca or phone 416-393-7099. Please contact us at least three weeks in advance. 

Pop culture critic, podcaster and video-maker Matt Baume visits the Appel Salon to discuss his new book Hi Honey, I'm Homo! Armed with humour, wit and reams of research, Matt will share behind the scenes stories and examine the cultural impact of the most groundbreaking coming out scenes in TV history.

For decades, amidst the bright lights, studio-audience laughs, and absurdly large apartment sets, the real-life story of American LGBTQ+ liberation unfolded in plain sight in front of millions of viewers, most of whom were laughing too hard to mind. Whether with awkward confessions, sympathetic support or jubilant celebrations, sitcoms have tackled LGBTQ+ coming out stories from every conceivable angle. As a result, they have plenty to teach us about the best (and worst) ways to foster an environment where everyone feels comfortable being themselves. 

Author Matt Baume speaks with writer, film programmer, pop culture critic Anthony Oliveira about how comedy and humor have made coming out easier, how queer TV characters have evolved over the years and why coming out is such a vital part of Pride.

Ticket registration for this event is required: Free tickets for this event will be available to book via Eventbrite beginning on May 15 at 9:00am ET.

About this event’s guests:

Matt Baume

Anthony Oliveira

Read more:

Hi Honey, I’m Homo!

Dayspring

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This event is part of our signature Salon Series, where we host local and international authors, artists and thinkers in conversation about their new books and big ideas.

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Note: This is an in-person event at The Bram and Bluma Appel Salon, the premiere event space for Toronto Public Library's cultural and heritage programming located on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street).

Arrive early, meet people. The talk starts at 7 pm, but doors open at 6 pm. Come early so you can chat with your fellow literature lovers, and make new friends. As with all Appel Salon events, we'll have a cash bar with a selection of beer and wine, as well as sandwiches and snacks.

Tickets are only guaranteed until 15 minutes before the show starts, at which point we will start opening up available spots to the rush line.

Accessibility at Toronto Public Library:

Toronto Public Library is committed to accessibility. Please call or email us if you are Deaf or have a disability and would like to request accommodation to participate in this program. Please let us know as far in advance as possible and we will do our best to meet your request. At least three weeks’ notice is preferred. Phone 416-393-7099 or email accessibleservices@tpl.ca.

Join us for a Jazz concert in celebration of Pride Month! Robert Ball (He / Him) is an artist who brings heart and passion to everything he does with a voice that is “smooth as silk” (BroadwayWorld.com), and with "amazing tenor and smooth effortless falsetto" (Notable Magazine). His music is a blend of Soul & Jazz inspired by Luther Vandross, Rachelle Ferrell, Donnie Hathaway and Sara Vaughn; and musically aligned with artists such as Jill Scott, D'Angelo, and Gregory Porter. For this concert, he will be accompanied by a musician for a duo performance. Drop in program. No registration required. For more information, please contact the Arts Department at 416-393-7157). 

If you identify as a person with a disability and require an accessibility accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Accessibility Services by email, accessibleservices@tpl.ca, or voicemail, 416-393-7099, to make a request. Please contact us at least three weeks in advance.