Toronto Public Library's Multilingual Sections vs. Canadian Multilingual Authors

Toronto Public Library branches have a large collection of multilingual books. Staff members work to curate these selections in various languages. As a Tamil writer living in Canada, I can discuss my issues here as I am familiar with them.

The main issue is that Tamil writers living here in Canada don't know how to sell their books to the library branches' multilingual sections. The staff members who select the multilingual books never inform the writers living here about how to submit their books for consideration. Many years ago, I sent a letter to the library board regarding this issue. I was told that a mechanism is in place to select books from Tamil authors. However, the major problem is that the library board doesn't know about each language spoken here; they depend on staff members who select these multilingual collections. These staff members, responsible for the selection process, purchase books from various bookshops in Tamil Nadu, India, and Sri Lanka. Additionally, they buy Tamil books from authors with whom they have personal connections.

So far, I have published 10 Tamil books, including both fiction and non-fiction. However, I still don't know how to sell my books to the Toronto Public Library. As a Canadian citizen and Tamil Canadian, I believe the Toronto Public Library should buy books from Tamil authors living here in Canada. This selection process should be transparent. The Toronto Public Library should inform multilingual authors living here about how to submit their works to the library's multilingual sections. Moreover, the Toronto Public Library should instruct the staff members responsible for the selection process to educate writers in their community on how to submit their works for consideration. Once the books are submitted to the library, the final decisions should be communicated to the authors who submitted their works.

I am not against the Toronto Public Library purchasing a variety of pulp fiction from India or other countries. However, I strongly advocate for the Toronto Public Library to also purchase books from Canadian Tamil authors. At present, this selection process is somewhat unclear and needs improvement. I hope the Toronto Public Library will consider this issue seriously.