RIBBON cutting ceremony with city officials at opening of the Rita Cox Park. City of Toronto photo. Cox (below) receiving award from the Black community for her many achievements.
Dr. Rita Cox was a popular, long-time head librarian of Parkdale Public Library who tried to encourage young people to read a book or stay in school.
Friends and colleagues of the former head librarian will be remembering her work and the many aspiring young Black students she guided to success in a virtual tribute on February 21.
The event is part of the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes (OCPA) 40th Anniversary celebrations.
Cox, who was born in Trinidad, joined the Toronto public library as a children’s librarian in 1960 and, in 1972, became the head of the Parkdale branch. It was an amazing feat for a Black woman then as she launched literacy programs and initiatives that promoted multiculturalism in Toronto.
Cox pioneered the ‘Black Heritage and West Indian Resource Collection’ at her Queen St. W., branch. Readers loved her books and the collection was renamed the ‘Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection,’ which contains more than 16,000 books, DVDs, CDs, newspapers and magazines, with a focus on the Black and Caribbean experience in Canada.
She would stage Black History Month celebrations at the branch yearly.
Always encouraging young people to learn, she retired from the library in 1995. Soon after she was appointed a citizenship court judge by the government of Canada.
Cox established “Cumbayah,” a successful festival of Black heritage and storytelling. She was a renowned storyteller who entertained audiences across North America, in Europe, Brazil and the Caribbean. She even authored a children’s book entitled “How Trouble Made the Monkey Eat Pepper.”
Cox ensured the Toronto public library’s storytelling legacy by training a new generation of storytellers, many of whom are current library staff.
She has won numerous awards, including the 1996 Canadian Library Association Public Service Award and the Black Achievement Award. In 1997, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for her outstanding work in storytelling and literacy and was the recipient of Honourary Degrees from York and Wilfrid Laurier universities.
Cox has even had a city park named after her. The Rita Cox Park is on Machells Ave, just north of Lamport Stadium.
The virtual tribute will take place from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will feature former CityTV weatherman Harold ‘Hurricane’ Hossein, Dr. Paul Keens Douglas, former MP Jean Augustine, six time Calypso Monarch winner Macomere Fifi, Wendy Jones, Entertainer Itah Sadu and Dr. Michael Ashley.
For more information contact Panman Pat at 416-358-8621 or visit facebook@calypsoca4u