Creepy Collections – Know How, the blog of the Great Library

The Librarian that Never Left: The Haunting of the Great Library

We’ve spoken at length in the past about the Great Library ghost that former Head Librarian George Johnston reportedly saw in the 1960s. In this blog post, I would like to speculate that the studious ghost may in fact be Hugh Nelson Gwynne, Head Librarian of the Great Library from August 1842 to December 1872. During his tenure as Head Librarian, he also acted as the Secretary and Sub-Treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada (now Ontario).

Devil’s Night

The librarians’ favourite season has come around again – Halloween! This year we have focused on depictions of the devil in our collection, in honour of Devil’s Night, or All Hallows’ Eve (Oct. 30). Each of our three librarians have picked a book (based on the title) from our rare book collection to highlight.

Of Ghosts, the Supernatural, and….Skepticism?

It’s that time of year again: when the leaves turn colour, the air gets cooler, the nights longer, and the librarians delve into our special collections to find the creepy and weird. This year, two librarians picked a title that sparked their interest and came up with two unique books: one discussing the various types of ghosts, monsters, and fae creatures, and one musing on the supernatural. Each description is written in the librarian’s own voice.