But well before the authors agree to say “I do,” there are gatekeepers to convince: publishers and publicity heads have to see the value (and book sales) in bringing authors to a Toronto library. For Broadhurst, who oversees Canadian distribution for U.S. publishing houses such as Farrar, Straus and Giroux, it’s a combination of the “large, appreciative crowds” and the fact that TPL staff “treat our authors exceptionally well. It really helps that Yvonne has such deep publishing experience.”

Past successes are also key to future appearances. Melanie Freedman, publicity director for Hachette Book Group Canada, recently brought several high-profile authors into sold-out events: Sex and the City’s Candace Bushnell, royal memoirist Andrew Morton, and Orange Is the New Black actress Kate Mulgrew, promoting her memoir Born with Teeth. In describing Mulgrew’s event, Freedman says, “The seats were absolutely packed, the on-stage conversation was superb, and there was a lively Q&A with an engaged and intelligent audience.”

Salon events drew more than 15,000 attendees in 2014, and yet there will always be those dream authors who still need convincing. “There are people I would put on the stage at any time, regardless of whether they have a book,” Hunter says. “I’d love to have Hilary Mantel and Kate Atkinson, so I routinely call up their publicists. I would have gladly booked E.L. James.”

Before the $6-million Bram & Bluma Appel Salon opened to the public in 2009 as part of the reference library’s $30-million renovation project, author readings were hosted across the city at local TPL branches, with varying degrees of success. Linda Hazzan, the TPL’s director of communications, says, “We were having the same wonderful high-end authors in our branches but the perception was, as one of the managers said a long time ago, that it had a church-basement feel.”

In September 2009, Srebotnjak booked Douglas Coupland as the first writer to appear on the new Appel stage. Hazzan observed that the Generation X author attracted a younger crowd than was typical for literary readings, and who immediately made the space their own.

“They were sitting in different places, on the edges as well as in the seats,” Hazzan says. “They were comfortable bringing their drinks in; they were mingling and talking, and I was really struck by the fact that the space extended [the] library, despite the fact it was so shiny and new.”

Iris Tupholme, HarperCollins Canada senior vice-president and executive publisher, says her authors enjoy that town-hall atmosphere. “Although the room is large, it stills feels intimate enough for the author and the audience members to feel connected.”

Ultimately, Hunter is eager to entice even larger audiences. She hopes to meet with the 92nd Street Y organizers to create larger touring corridors between New York, Toronto, and potentially other Canadian cities such as Montreal and Ottawa. “If we were going to bring someone over from the Middle East, for example, could we book them in all those cities?”

Meanwhile, events such as the Thought Exchange talks, which explore topics like the intersection of health and technology, and the Democracy 360 panel featuring former Ontario premier Bob Rae (fulfilling another mandate of encouraging civic engagement) will potentially draw Torontonians other than arts and entertainment enthusiasts, and keep the seats full.

“The salon programming is a great entry point to bring people in and help broaden people’s perspective of all the library offers,” says Hazzan. “Our biggest challenge now is managing the demand, which isn’t a bad problem to have.”