Forwarded from a friend.  I apologize if this a duplicate.
-- Mitch

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Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 10:24:37 -0700
Reply-To: CALIBACA-L@CSUS.EDU
Sender: owner-CALIBACA-L@CSUS.EDU
From: "Judy Clarence" <jclarenc@csuhayward.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <CALIBACA-L@CSUS.EDU>
Subject: ALA/Toronto message
X-Accept-Language: en
X-SFSU-VirusScanner: Found to be clean

Hi all,
Here's a message sent to ACRL from the President of the Canadian Library
Association; she asks that it be posted to all ACRL Chapter lists.
Please pass her message on to librarians who may be planning to attend
ALA but are not on the Calibaca listserv.
Thanks,
Judy
______________________________________

June 3, 2003

Dear ALA member/exhibitor:

I am writing simply to let you know what it’s like to live and work in
and around Toronto these days. Normally, of course, this wouldn’t be
necessary, but the SARS situation means these aren’t normal times.

I’m writing as a librarian who has tried to put herself in your shoes
and anticipate what you want and need to know personally about daily
life in Toronto. Through this note, I hope not only to inform but also
to reassure you, in the midst of much publicity, with the view from
here.

I live and work close to Toronto, close enough to have me in and out of
there often on commuter trains for library-related meetings, restaurant
meals, and entertainment. I am in touch with many library colleagues in
Toronto, socially and professionally, and with family members who live
or work there. In addition, I’ve been using the Toronto airport a lot.

There are thousands of library workers in Toronto, going to work every
day in facilities that are continually open to the public. There are
more than 2,500 people working in the 98 branches of Toronto Public
Library alone. All branches are open during their usual hours, and staff
are not wearing any of those masks that you see in photos accompanying
media reports of SARS. The University of Toronto Libraries (697 staff
members) serve more than 55,000 students on three campuses, with all
libraries functioning as usual. There are many other university
libraries, school libraries, and hundreds of special libraries in
Toronto, all running as usual in a highly people-intensive service.

For the vast majority of Torontonians, it truly is life as usual. People
are not walking around or riding the subway wearing masks and fearing
for their lives. People are going to theatres and restaurants, and now
that the Toronto Blue Jays are winning (sorry, Yankee and Red Sox fans),
to SkyDome to catch a ball game. An exciting exhibit on Canadian painter
Tom Thomson just opened at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Some are looking
forward to Elaine Stritch's Tony Award-winning one-woman show, coming to
the beautifully restored Elgin Theatre June 24 to 28 (she was a sell-out
on Broadway). Ray Charles is scheduled for the Toronto Jazz Festival,
June 21-28.

There are no guarantees in this life – September 11, 2001 and
Legionnaires’ disease remind us of that. But what Canadians have learned
from post 9/11 Americans is that we can’t just live in fear of what
might be.

Both as an Association and in that very personal way in which all people
must do it, we have assessed the risk to ourselves, our families, and
our communities back home. Our daily working lives and those of workers
in other sectors are evidence of our decision. Like librarians
everywhere, we’re proud - and sometimes even courageous - in the support
of our services and our community, but we’re not reckless. We believe
this: it’s safe to live and work here.

That’s not tough Canadian talk nor is it government propaganda. It’s the
considered view of a 33-year librarian who has carefully evaluated the
current, authentic evidence. If the evidence changes, it’s a different
story. But for now, we are not at risk.

One last thought. I suspect the reason Canadians are less concerned than
Americans about the SARS situation in Toronto is simply that we have
more sources of information on the Toronto situation than the mainstream
media. We have family – in my case, my son – or friends who are going
about their daily lives. We know that if we fall ill, we can go to our
choice of hospitals that have never had a SARS case. Not “doesn’t have”
a SARS case, but “has never had”. (I note that ALA is working on a
classified list of medical facilities in the area, and that’s going to
be a useful resource.)

The ordinariness of life in Toronto these days isn’t being reported in
mainstream media. Nor should it be: it isn’t “news”. It’s just, well,
everyday life, just like in your town.

I hope this glimpse of library life around here tells you something of
the safety of visiting. I hope, too, that you’ll come to Toronto.

Wendy Newman
President, Canadian Library Association

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