The first lending library in Toronto was a subscription library established in 1810 at the Lieutenant Governor residence. The collection was however looted during the War of 1812 and the Burning of York. After the end of hostilities, the York Mechanics’ Institute started lending books to members in 1830. After the provincial government passed the Free Libraries Act of 1882, Toronto was quick to jump on the occasion. By referendum, city residents voted in favour of establishing a public library on January 1st, 1883, the first municipality in Ontario to do so.
The young Toronto Public Library started operation by taking over the Mechanics’ Institute library (now demolished), but at first it did not have its own building. This changed thanks to a Carnegie grant obtained in 1903, which enabled the city to build a new central library and three branches. The first branch to be completed in 1907 was the Yorkville branch, the first purpose-built library building in the city and still operating today. Two years later, the new Toronto Central Library opened on College Street.
The Beaux-Arts masterpiece was designed by Toronto architects Frank Wickson and Alfred H. Gregg, in collaboration with Alfred H. Chapman. Wickson, Gregg and Chapman were well acquainted with the task at hand, having designed several other libraries in Ontario, most recently the Brampton Carnegie Library in 1906.
The step up from the modest floor of the Mechanics’ Institute was tremendous. Toronto City Librarian George H. Locke described it in 1926 as follows:
The Public Reference Library’s great feature is the great Reading Room for study purposes, one of the best of its size and kind on the continent. It has a shelf capacity of over 5,000 books on the walls, easily accessible to everybody, has excellent lighting and is well ventilated. It is extremely popular and often in the winter every seat –over 200– is occupied by persons studying something of interest.
Despite being a beloved and well-used asset in the rapidly growing Toronto Public Library system, the Central Library building was eventually superseded by Raymond Moriyama’s new Reference Library when it opened in 1977. The University of Toronto bought the former library from the city and eventually converted it into the Koffler Student Centre. The mostly preserved original grand reading room is now occupied by the University of Toronto bookstore and is open to the public during academic term. The building is a designated heritage property since 1973.
The images shown here date from January 2020.
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