Toronto Reference Library: History, Moriyama and Collections

The Toronto Public Library began in 1884, after Ontario passed the Free Libraries Act in 1882 and Toronto voters approved a library by-law on January 1, 1883. Its flagship, the Toronto Reference Library at 789 Yonge Street, is a building designed by Raymond Moriyama that opened on November 2, 1977. The Toronto Public Library blog on the opening says the Metropolitan Toronto Library Board held the official opening on that date. The building houses research collections that include the Baldwin Collection of Canadiana and an Arthur Conan Doyle collection.

From Mechanics’ Institute to free library, 1882 to 1884

Before 1884 Toronto had no tax-supported library. The Toronto Public Library (TPL) history blog says Premier Oliver Mowat’s government passed the Free Libraries Act in 1882, which let municipalities fund libraries from local taxes. A petition with about 1,900 signatures went to City Council on May 29, 1882. Voters approved the Free Library By-Law on January 1, 1883. Alderman John Hallam led the campaign and became chairperson of the first library board.

James Bain became the first chief librarian and chose about three-quarters of the initial collection from the Toronto Mechanics’ Institute. The Central Library, at the northeast corner of Church and Adelaide Streets, opened officially on March 6, 1884, the city’s fiftieth anniversary. General public admission began on March 10, 1884. Two branches had opened in February 1884: the Northern Branch in St. Paul’s Hall in Yorkville, and the Western Branch at St. Andrew’s Market, at Richmond and Brant Streets. The Library’s blog reports a budget of $50,000, of which $37,400 was spent.

Carnegie libraries and the College Street building

In the early twentieth century Toronto used funds from the Carnegie Trust to build libraries. Wikipedia’s article on the library system says Carnegie Trust funds paid for ten library buildings erected between 1907 and 1916. Its article on the Reference Library says the library opened in 1909 in a Beaux-Arts building at College and St. George streets with 97,788 books. The Toronto Public Library blog says that building served as the central library from 1909 to 1977. It survives as the Koffler Student Centre of the University of Toronto. The specific opening day and any claim that it was the largest Carnegie library in Ontario could not be confirmed and are omitted.

The Toronto Reference Library, 1977

The Toronto Public Library blog describes the opening as the end of “nearly a decade of planning, re-planning and political wrangling.” The new building was designed by Raymond Moriyama and stands on the east side of Yonge Street between Asquith Avenue and Collier Street, at the edge of Yorkville. The old College Street central library closed on July 23, 1977. An electricians’ strike postponed the planned September openings, and the library opened to the public on October 24, 1977, before the official ceremony on the evening of November 2, 1977. The blog gives the total cost as about $30 million, roughly $23 million for the building and $7 million for the site.

The library’s design blog describes five double-height stories around a large central atrium under a skylight. A first design of 1973 was rejected in December 1973 as too dominant for the neighborhood, and a revision in April 1974 used reddish-orange brick and stepped-back floors. Floor-area figures differ: that blog gives a gross floor area of about 364,000 square feet (about 33,800 square meters), while Wikipedia gives about 39,600 square meters (426,500 square feet) and calls it the largest Toronto Public Library location.

A renovation led by Moriyama and Teshima Architects ran from 2009 to 2014 at a cost of about $34 million (CAD) and was completed on September 19, 2014. It added a glass-cube entrance and an event space, the Bram and Bluma Appel Salon.

Heritage collections

Wikipedia names two special collections at the Reference Library.

The Baldwin Collection of Canadiana. The library’s own pages describe its holdings; they could not be read for this article, so no description is given here.
An Arthur Conan Doyle collection, housed in a room modeled on Sherlock Holmes’s study at 221B Baker Street, according to Wikipedia. Press and library pages say it grew from a purchase from the estate of the collector Arthur Vincent Baillie, but they differ on the size of that purchase (about 500 books in one account, more than 150 volumes in others), and the library’s own page could not be read, so no figure or year is stated.

Other collections sit elsewhere in the system. According to Wikipedia, the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books and the Merril Collection of Science Fiction are at the Lillian H. Smith branch, and the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection is spread across four branches. For catalogs and access rules, TPL’s own pages are the authoritative source.

Amalgamation and the modern system

In 1998, when the municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto were merged into the City of Toronto, their library systems were merged as well. The result was the largest public library system in North America at the time, serving 2.3 million people from 98 branches, according to Wikipedia’s article on the library system, which also gives a current branch count of 100 in its text and 101 in its infobox. TPL publishes current branch counts, hours and borrowing rules on its website, and readers should check there because they change.

Toronto East General Hospital in brief

An old post that this page replaces covered the Toronto East General Hospital, so a short verified history follows. According to the City of Toronto’s East York centennial exhibit, residents east of the Don Valley had no local hospital in the early 1920s, and in 1924 Toronto City Council approved the purchase of five acres at Coxwell and Sammon Avenues in East York. The land passed to the new hospital board in 1926, construction began in 1928, and by 1929 the four-story, 110-bed Toronto East General Hospital had opened. The Michael Garron Hospital Foundation says the first patient was admitted on January 21, 1929. Wikipedia gives the address as 825 Coxwell Avenue. A $50 million gift from Myron and Berna Garron, in memory of their son Michael, led in 2015 to the legal renaming as the Toronto East Health Network, with the main facility known as Michael Garron Hospital. Wikipedia dates the renaming to December 2, 2015. Current services are listed on the hospital’s own website.

Timeline

Year	Event
1882	Free Libraries Act passed in Ontario
1883	Toronto voters approve library by-law, January 1
1884	Central Library opens March 6; public admission March 10
1909	Reference library opens at College and St. George
1977	Toronto Reference Library opens to the public October 24; official opening November 2
1998	Library systems merged in amalgamation
2014	Reference Library renovation completed, September 19

Frequently asked questions

When did the Toronto Public Library open?

The Central Library opened officially on March 6, 1884, and welcomed the general public from March 10, 1884.

Who designed the Toronto Reference Library?

Raymond Moriyama designed the current building at 789 Yonge Street. It opened to the public on October 24, 1977, and was officially opened on November 2, 1977.

What is in the Baldwin Collection?

It is a special collection of Canadiana at the Toronto Reference Library. The library’s own pages describe the holdings, and researchers should consult TPL’s catalog and special collections staff for the current holdings and access rules.

What was the Toronto East General Hospital?

It was the name of the East York hospital that opened in 1929 and is now called Michael Garron Hospital, part of the Toronto East Health Network.

Last verified: October 2026

Sources

Toronto Public Library, Local History and Genealogy blog, “Remembering Toronto Public Library and its first Central Library”, March 2018 (1882 Act, 1883 by-law, Hallam, Bain, 1884 opening, branches, budget).
Toronto Reference Library blog, “Toronto Reference Library at 40: Opening Ceremonies, November 2nd, 1977”, November 2017 (opening, cost, location, strike delay).
Toronto Reference Library blog, “Toronto Reference Library at 40: Raymond Moriyama and the original architecture”, November 2017 (design, 1973 proposal, floor area).
“Toronto Reference Library,” Wikipedia (secondary: 1909 building, 97,788 books, 2009 to 2014 renovation and its $34 million cost, 39,600 square meters, special collections).
“Toronto Public Library,” Wikipedia (secondary: Carnegie buildings, 1998 amalgamation, Osborne, Merril and Rita Cox collections).
City of Toronto, “East York 100: Edifices and Education”, web exhibit (hospital land purchase, 1926 board, 1929 opening with 110 beds, 2015 donation).
Michael Garron Hospital Foundation, “A proud past, a healthier future” (first patient January 21, 1929).
“Michael Garron Hospital,” Wikipedia (secondary: address, December 2, 2015 renaming).

Cite this page

APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 25). The Toronto Public Library and the Toronto Reference Library. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-toronto-reference-library-a-hub-of-knowledge-and-culture-in-the-heart-of-the-city

MLA: “The Toronto Public Library and the Toronto Reference Library.” History of Toronto, 25 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-toronto-reference-library-a-hub-of-knowledge-and-culture-in-the-heart-of-the-city. Accessed .

Chicago: History of Toronto. “The Toronto Public Library and the Toronto Reference Library.” Last modified October 25, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-toronto-reference-library-a-hub-of-knowledge-and-culture-in-the-heart-of-the-city.

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