| 1883 |
Bracondale Post Office established on the southwest corner of Christie St. & Davenport Rd.; also known as Turner Hall named after Frank Turner founder of Bracondale and the first Postmaster. A small lending library was later housed here. The Deputy Postmaster (Edwin Charles Boggis) had a great interest in the library. |
| 1898 |
Bracondale Public Library formally established, after May. "The Bracondale public library...was first started in the old tanning factory on Christie Street with Mr. W. Garrett as librarian. At first it took up but one room, which was loaned by J.E. Edwards & Co., owners of the factory, but it afterwards grew, calling in use another one." [Toronto Star, 14 September 1906]. The aformentioned John E. Edwards was former Deputy Postmaster of the Bracondale Post Office and a Bracondale Public Library Board member. Edwin Charles Boggis who became Deputy Postmaster of the Bracondale Post Office for 17 years, remained a Bracondale Public Library Board member from the very beginning until the last special meeting of the Bracondale Public Library Board in Hillcrest School on 12 October 1911. |
| 1901 |
Bracondale Public Library was offered a free site on which to build its new reading room and library. A subscripton was to be taken up to help buld the library. Plans for the new building were being prepared. |
| 1902 |
The Bracondale Public Library Board meets in the Library Rooms of the J.E. Edwards & Sons Tanning Factory in March. The library now has 1,500 volumes and is flourishing. |
| 1904 |
The library and most of its 1,500 volumes destroyed by fire, 13 February, except for the volumes that had not yet been returned. They were housed in two rooms of J. E. Edwards & Sons, a leather goods manufacturer on Christie Street, corner of Victoria Street (now Tyrrell Avenue). Librarian William H. Garrett also was a cutter in the factory. The Bracondale Public Library Board meets on 23 February for a special meeting in the office of J.E. Edwards & Sons to arrange for the re-opening of the public library as the Board had been offered free use of the Wychwood Fire Hall at #6 Alcina Avenue by the owner Thos. Heron on 17 February. The library relocates there in the lower part of the Fire Hall. |
| 1905 - 1909 |
From 1905 to 1909 the school is enlarged to 12 rooms and the Bracondale Public Library continues to be there. When Wychwood School is annexed to Toronto in 1909, the school’s name changes to Hillcrest School. |
| 1905 |
Library board offered free quarters, 23 February, in new School Section No. 25, York Township, in the new 4 room Wychwood School opened on the east side of Bathurst Street, between Hillcrest (now Hilton) and Nina Avenues, May, by school trustees Messrs John Woods, Wm. Irvine & Thos. Heron. It was these 3 men who brought the new school to completion. Library board meets there for the first time, July. The library has 300 books after the fire. |
| 1906 |
The Bracondale Public Library has grown to 1,400 volumes. The room loaned to the library is taken over as a classroom which now puts the library on only 6 shelves at the back of the room. If the librarian had not been a tall man he could not have reached the top shelf. The shelves are covered with muslin to keep the children at school from handling the books. Library membership has doubled during the last year. From 1905-1909 the school is enlarged to 12 rooms and the Bracondale Public Library continues to be there. When Wychwood School is annexed to Toronto in 1909, the school's name changes to Hillcrest School. |
| 1909 |
Wychwood and Bracondale districts annexed to the City of Toronto 1 February. Assets of the Bracondale Public Library, including $56.10 cash on hand and 1,777 books, are transferred to the Toronto Public Library. |
| 1911 |
A special and last meeting of the Bracondale Public Library Board is held in Hillcrest School on 12 October. The members present (Messrs Boggis, Webb & Holmes) long-time Library Board members but not a quorum, talk about amalgamation with the Toronto Puublic Library. It was considered advisable that the Toronto Public Library Board be allowed to run a branch library in the room in Hillcrest School and if any members of the Bracondale PUblic Library wished to establish a library outside the city limits they could apply to the Toronto Public Library Board for the books on the shelves of the Bracondale Public Library but that the disposition of these books be left in the hands of the Toronto Public Library Board. Wychwood Branch opened by Toronto Public Library in Hillcrest Public School, December. Chief librarian George Locke noted, "the books of this [Bracondale] Library have been repaired, rebound, accessioned, catalogued and supplemented by some new ones." |
| 1912 |
Toronto Public Library opens Wychwood Branch in the old Bracondale Public Library room at Hillcrest Public School, Bathurst Street. After months of negotiations with the Board of Education, the Bracondale Public Library is recognized as having proprietary rights in the room dedicated for the purpose of a public library prior to annexation of the city. It is at this poing that the branch is renamed Wychwood Library after the house of Marmaduke Matthews who built his home in 1874 in Wychwood Park. Mr. Matthews was born near Wychwood Forest, Oxfordshire, England, hence the name Wychwood. Matthews was the founder of Wychwood Park as an artist colony in the 1880's. |
| 1915 |
Carnegie Corporation of New York grants $50,000 to TPL to build 3 branches. Toronto's Carnegie Libraries - Wychwood . The land the current library is built on is purchased for $13,125. District lots 1, 2 and part of 3 at the northeast corner of Bathurst Street and Melgund Road. |
| 1916 |
Opened 15 April. Eden Smith & Sons, Architects. Prototype design for Beaches and High Park branches, adapted from the English grammar school type of the 17th century. The ground floor is the children's library and used for community meetings. The main floor is for the adult collection and reading room. It was designed using the open shelf system with wooden bookshelves lining the walls where users could choose the books themselves. This was a departure from traditional library buildings, spearheaded by George H. Locke, Toronto's Chief Librarian. |
| 1925 |
The Library's beautifully landscaped grounds with 276 varieties of plants, including an entire bank of rose bushes with 67 varieties, wins a silver cup award from the local Horticultural Society for the most attractive grounds in the public building category. The Library Board considered gardens to have an educational value so each of the plants had labels with their scientific as well as common names. |
| 1976 |
Listed on Toronto Historical Board's Inventory of Heritage Properties, adopted by City Council, 18 August. |
| 1978 |
Renovated, Phillip H. Carter, Architect. Addition of a program room and more space to the second floor as well as renovation to the minstrel gallery where access has been by ship's ladder only, into a mezzanine study area with stair access. Philip Carter wins an award of excellence from the "Canadian Architect Yearbook" for his design. |
| 1992 |
Closed for barrier-free access improvements on 17 February. Reopened 15 March. |
| 1995 |
Retrofitted, Robin Tharin Architects. Closed 18 November. |
| 1996 |
Reopened 25 March. |
| 2007 |
New hours, 8 January. Hours open per week increased from 58 to 62. |
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