As we learned last month, the Silver Snail comic book store, a Queen West stalwart, will be moving to a new location at Yonge and Dundas this summer to take on entertainment giant HMV (which also sells comics and graphic novels) and several other book stores. Work is still underway on the new digs, but a recently posted tour of the space by owner George Zotti offers a peek at what's to come.

It's pretty long, but Zotti gives a few interesting details about the new layout. There will be iPads containing digital comics set into the cafe counter overlooking Yonge Street, a new space for art, and even a live drawing station for guest artists to use at signings and other special events. Skottie Young and Dave McKean are two big names dropped in the video who could be making appearances soon after opening.

Over and above the photographic holdings at the City of Toronto Archives, the best representation of the changing nature of this city's streetscape over the last 30 years or so is surely the work of Patrick Cummins. A photographer with a keen eye for minor architectural details — be it alterations to signage or the makeshift renovations that tend to accompany a building's change in ownership — his images subtly capture the ebb and flow of our city's existence, right down to its weather and economy.

As Torontoist reported earlier today, the popular Silver Snail comic book store has found a new home among the big boys of the entertainment industry at 329 Yonge Street, just north of Yonge-Dundas Square. Last we heard, the business was keen to relocate to the Annex, so we got in touch with management to find out what led to the change of heart.

"We were looking at a couple of places but all the deals fell through," says Paul Douglas, an assistant manager at the Silver Snail. "We had to look elsewhere."

Back in January, the fate of Glad Day Bookshop didn't look good. As an independent bookstore — a niche one, at that — Glad was plagued with a series of troubles including operating amidst the financial burden of an ongoing battle with the Ontario Film Review Board.

We've been known to post the occasional timelapse or two, but this "behind the scenes" look at TYPE Books at night is a refreshing change from the skyline panoramas and traffic shots that often make their way into these sequences. Kind of like A Night at the Museum for books, this short stop motion film from Sean and Lisa Ohlenkamp injects life into a space that would otherwise quietly await the following day's customers.

Despite the relative youth of 2012, this year already appears set to be a bad one for Toronto bookshops. Continuing a trend that has seen the closure of Pages, This Ain't the Rosedale Library, and Ballenford Books, Quill & Quire reports that the Book Mark is set to shut its doors on or before January 21st. The oldest independent bookshop in the city, despite a few location changes, the store has been in steady operation for over 45 years. In a press release issued earlier today, owner Sue Houghting explains that if the Book Mark's stock runs short prior to the scheduled closure date, she'll close up early. Talk about unceremonious endings.