Cox is Caribana’s grand marshal

Cox, a retired librarian, was recently honoured in Toronto for transforming the lives of thousands of people. Over the years she has done so through her work in literacy, multi-culturalism awareness, and the public service.

As a way of honouring Cox, the Toronto Public library has renamed the Black Heritage and West Indian Resource Collection at Parkdale Library. It is now called the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection. It is housed in four convenient library locations across Toronto.

The collection includes books, audio-visual materials and periodicals for adults, children and teens.

Also launched was the Rita Cox Endowment Fund. This will help to ensure that the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection “continues to meet the historical and literary interests of the Black and Caribbean community and the City of Toronto.”

A 2006 FIFA World Cup soccer ball signed by the Soca Warriors is being auctioned on Ebay to raise money for the endowment fund. The goal is to raise at least Can$10,000.

Among the special guests at the function honouring Cox was Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner to Canada, Arnold Piggott, who travelled from Ottawa for the occasion.

“It is always with a tremendous sense of pride and pleasure that I bring greetings on behalf of the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago,” Piggott told the large and diverse audience. “That feeling is always heightened when the occasion being observed is one that pays tribute to the contributions made by one of our nationals.”

Referring to Cox as being a “very distinguished matriarch of our shared societies — Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada,” Piggott also praised the retired librarian for continuing “to radiate energy, passion, respect, common decency and all other graces which mankind should embrace.

Responding to the tribute Cox said: “I am overwhelmed. It is a great and rewarding tribute from the Toronto Public Library. “This is something that I had never in my wildest dreams expected.”

Cox joined the Toronto Public Library in 1960 as a children’s librarian. In 1974, she became head of the branch serving the Parkdale community in downtown Toronto. During her time at the library she launched a number of literacy and multi-culturalism programmes and other initiatives. It was during that period that she launched the Black and West Indian Resource Collection.

In addition to her work as a librarian, Cox is a renowned storyteller who, many years ago, helped launched a festival of storytelling in Toronto.

An ardent fan of Carnival, Cox is known to visit Trinidad for the annual festival. She has also been involved with the annual Caribana festival in Toronto, which is this year celebrating its 39th anniversary.

Cox retired from the Toronto Public Library in 1995. However, she remains active and serves a Canadian citizenship judge. She is also involved in numerous community undertakings.

For her work Cox has received many awards. These include: the Canadian Library Association Public Service Award; and, the Black Achievement Award.

A recipient of honorary degrees from Canadian universities — York University and Wilfrid Laurier University — Cox was in 1997 appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for her outstanding work in storytelling and literacy.

Among the many paying tribute to Cox were: Austin Clarke, Barbadian-born Canadian author and university lecturer; and Guyanese-born Prof Frank Birbalsingh, founder of the Caribbean studies programme at York University.