Actress and comedian Mary Walsh has always been a big reader so emceeing for Biblio Bash, a fundraiser for the Toronto Public Library Foundation, was an easy decision.

The fact the library opens its doors to anyone and everyone, including the most marginalized, was a big factor.

“At a time when we have become very un-Christian in dealing with the most vulnerable people in our society ... (libraries), as opposed to other public institutions, have opened their hearts and their doors to the people who need the most help and they welcome them in,” said Walsh, best known for her work on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

“It’s just an amazing system that does amazing work for so many of us, for you or me, and for people who are suffering with a mental health illness and find themselves on the street or in jail, and then they use the libraries and use the computers in the libraries and see a kind human face,” she added.

Biblio Bash takes place Thursday at the Toronto Reference Library, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Every table will have an author, including Walsh whose debut novel, Crying for the Moon, was just published by HarperCollins Canada.

Other authors in attendance include Andrew Pyper, Jennifer Robson, Linwood Barclay and Karma Brown.

“I have always been a big reader. I think that books saved my life in many, many ways,” Walsh said, recalling many happy hours spent at Gosling Memorial Library in St. John’s, N.L.

Jennifer Jones, president of the foundation — which has raised more than $75 million for the city’s library system — said Walsh happily stepped into the breach as emcee when asked.

Jones echoed Walsh’s sentiment about the Toronto library system, which is considered to be the busiest in the world.

The system had more than 30 million online visits last year and more than 18 million visits to its 100 branches. One in five Torontonians visits a branch of the library weekly.

“In an era where people think that libraries are no longer relevant, we actually had our strongest year. That’s part of the story we want to bring to the Biblo Bash audience,” Jones said.

“You can imagine that a lot of people who have access to wealth don’t really need the library with the same sense of urgency that the people who come here everyday do,” Jones said.

“What we want to do is make them realize that they’re quite frankly very privileged, and a lot of Torontonians rely on the library to get a leg up and maximize their potential, and become the best they can be and become a thriving part of the city we are building together,” she added.

The library system offers 30,000 programs of all types as part of its effort to be “truly a community hub.”

Besides lending books — still the most common use — the library system offers access to the Internet through a partnership with Google and lends out WiFi devices for home use for up to six months.

The reference library offers a digital innovation hub that includes a 3D printer and other 21st-century technology.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Jones noted that part of the package offered to new Canadians arriving in the city, including refugees, is a free library card.

“The librarians really have their fingers on the pulse of what’s going on in their communities and can help connect (residents) with the social service agencies that would best serve them,” Jones added.

Tickets to Biblio Bash are sold out, but for information on how to donate to the library foundation go to tplfoundation.ca