MASARYKTOWN LIBRARY
MEMBERSHIP
To become a member, all you need to do is to visit the library during hours of operation, fill out an application form and pay a one-time membership registration fee of $5.
OUR COLLECTION
The MMI library holds the largest collection of Czech and Slovak books open to the public in Canada. Our book collection has over 9,500 books.
ABOUT THE LIBRARY
The Masaryk Hall Library was created in the 1940s. Our current library grew from the previous collection and was established in 1991 by Julia Novotná, a professional librarian.
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Tel #: 416-439-4354
PLEASE NOTE: MMI's library is no longer accepting book donations.
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Library hours: 2nd Friday and 4th Friday of every month from 4pm to 7pm. Czech calendar for actual dates.
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Librarian: Andrew Peichl
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OUR BOOKS
In addition to books of general interest, the library has several special interest sections:
Masarykana
Books about and by the first Czechoslovak President, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk. The section also contains archival documents regarding T. G. Masaryk.
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Rare Books
Here we have hard-to-find Czech books, including many series of special editions. These two sections present an ideal resource for students of philosophy, European history or those interested in Czech and Slovak history between WWI and WWII.
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Exile Literature
Until 1990, this was the largest collection of Czechoslovak exile literature in the world. Today, our catalogue remains a silent witness of the troubled times of communist oppression of our people from 1948 to 1989.
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The books in this section were written by authors who were banned in former Czechoslovakia but were published abroad. Many of these were published by the remarkable Sixty-Eight Publishers, owned and operated by Zdena Salivarová and Josef Škvorecký from Toronto. Josef Škvorecký is an internationally acclaimed author, whose novel ‘The Engineer of Human Souls’ won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction in 1984.
