[URBAN NOTE] This Ain't the Rosedale Library

[rfmcdonald]

I didn't browse at This Ain't The Rosedale Library (483 Church Street) last night since I felt guilty, with my two bags of ludicrously marked-down merchandise in characteristic Indigo bags. I browsed today, but I still feel guilty since Jeremy Mercer, on the 6th of this month in The Guardian, rated this bookstore #8 on his list on independent bookstores.

This is Canada's best independent bookstore, full of small press publications and a centre for Toronto counterculture. Canada, like most countries now, is losing a lot of its independents due to competition from the big chains and online booksellers. This Ain't The Rosedale Library is a model of how an independent can survive: by building a community around the store and providing insight and inspiration for its customers.

I don't feel quite so guilty now. Not quite.