York Woods Library gets a modern makeover!

York Woods Library is located on Finch between Jane and Sentinel, and it backs onto a beautiful ravine. The library first opened in 1970 and has served as a community hub for decades. But York Woods is due for an upgrade! The inaccessible second floor, the inconvenient layout, and the lack of dedicated spaces has left the library behind the times. In mid-January, York Woods held a public consultation where they unveiled the most up-to-date plans for the new library. Once complete, York Woods will be a bigger and more accessible community hub. It will have multifunctional as well as dedicated spaces so the library can be a place of learning, collaboration, and innovation. Children and teenagers who come to library will have access to different spaces - there will be a kids-stop to give a space to play, learn, and develop fine motor skills, a youth hub that will have after school activities and access to nutritious snacks, homework help, tech and programming lessons, and space to provide teenagers from the community a space to hang out.There will also be a digital innovation lab - a place where those who are interested can have access to the latest technology like green-screens, video equipment, 3-D printing, cutting-edge software, and more! The building is outdated. Its architecture is from the 1970s and layout no longer effectively services the neighbourhood’s growing needs and the modernization of world.The project developers and architects of the York Woods Library aim to build the space to be responsive to; What’s best for the community? What’s coming up next for tech? What kind of spaces does (and will) the Jane-Finch Community and the rest of Downsview need, especially as our spaces are getting smaller?These are exciting times for the community - the consultation was attended by many enthusiastic community members. York Woods Library will be closed once construction starts and many residents were upset to hear that they would be losing their space - but do not fret! A pop-up space will be opening to fill in the gap in the interim.