There was much ado about a little lending library in Toronto this week after the city ordered a retired history teacher to remove it from his front lawn or face a fine and then retracted the demand a day later.
George Sherwood, 73, received the little library as a Christmas gift last year and has been besotted with it ever since.
The small, mint-green coloured box has a little glass window pane and was personalized by his daughters with âGeorgeâs Libraryâ painted across the top in gold lettering.
âI love it,â Sherwood told CTV Toronto. âIt represents my love of literature and the enjoyment of passing on literacy to others.â
Sherwood thought his library was a way to connect with the community and was shocked when the City of Toronto notice showed up in his mailbox Wednesday telling him he had to dismantle the library within two weeks or warning him he would face a fine of almost $100.
According to local councillor, Christin Carmichael Greb, someone made a complaint which prompted city officials to send a bylaw officer to investigate.
City bylaw states homeowners are not permitted to erect structures closer than 3.5 metres from a city sidewalk.
While Sherwood claims to have phoned his gas and hydro providers to ensure he wasnât impeding on any lines, he admits he didnât call and ask the city for permission, nor did he think he needed it.
But Sherwoodâs wife, Ellie, told CTV Toronto she canât understand why someone had singled them out when there are many of these little libraries dotted around the city.
âMost of them are as close, if not closer to the sidewalk than ours,â she said.â I donât see them being told they have to come down.â
Sherwoodâs daughter, Jennifer, was also outraged that the City of Toronto, was trying to take down her fatherâs Christmas gift.
âAre you kidding me, Toronto?â she wrote in the Facebook post. âIs this how youâre spending my tax dollars, by harassing senior citizens who are trying to spread a little literary love around the neighbourhood?â
Many of Sherwoodâs neighbours defended the library.
âI think the sharing of books is a wonderful initiative and we should make it possible, you know, not difficult,â said one neighbour.
âI think itâs a grand gesture that theyâve made,â another said. âThe city should leave them alone.â
Mayor John Tory also threw his support behind Sherwood's lending library, tweeting: âI love Toronto's little libraries. We should be encouraging them, not ticketing them. I've sent that message to City staff. The ticket issued to the little library owner at Yonge & Eglinton has been ripped up.â
I love Toronto's little libraries. We should be encouraging them, not ticketing them. I've sent that message to City staff. The ticket issued to the little library owner at Yonge & Eglinton has been ripped up.
â John Tory (@JohnTory)
On Thursday, Carmichael Greb told CTV Toronto and Sherwood that the city had decided to withdraw the notice and the fine.
âI donât know who made the complaint,â Carmichael Greb said. âBut I donât see any issues with it. Itâs not a huge structure, itâs a temporary structure.â
She added that she also plans on introducing a motion at city council next week, asking that lending libraries be exempted from that bylaw.
In the meantime, Sherwood told CTV Toronto he is just happy he can continue spreading literacy.
With files from CTV Torontoâs Janice Golding and Rachael DâAmore