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Bloor/Gladstone Branch (BL)

	Mon.: 9:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Tue.: 9:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Wed.: 9:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Thu.: 9:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Fri.: 9:00 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. 9:00 - 6:00 (July to Sept. 4) Sat.: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sun.: 1:30-5:00 p.m. (Sept. 13 to Jun.) Facilities for people with disabilities
1101 Bloor St. West Toronto, ON, M6H 1M7 416-393-7674
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Programs

Collections Available

Local History Collection

French Collections

Adult Multilingual Collections

Language	Print	CDs	DVDs/Videos	Periodicals
Chinese Hindi Portuguese Spanish Tamil Vietnamese

Children's Multilingual Collections

Language	Print	CDs	DVDs/Videos	Periodicals
Chinese Portuguese Spanish Tamil Vietnamese

Services

• Book-drop - 24 Hours
• Internet/Microsoft Office computers (44)
• Equipment for people with disabilities

Historical Background

1911
Toronto City Council votes to provide $60,000 (plus $5,000 for books) to the Toronto Public Library Board for a new branch library in the Dovercourt district. A 150- by 100-foot (46- by 30- metre) site at the northwest corner of Bloor Street and Dovercourt Road is acquired.  Plans by Toronto architects Alfred H. Chapman & Robert B. McGiffen are approved, 12 December.

1912
Construction starts, 30 April.  Cornerstone is laid on 16 October.

1913
Dovercourt Branch is officially opened, 23 October and for business two days later. Then the largest branch library in Canada, Dovercourt was the first library building in the city to be constructed solely with municipal funds, and without the aid of Carnegie grants. Praised for its 'style and efficiency,' it features an outdoor reading terrace between the wings of the U-shaped symmetrical plan.

1916
Ontario's Provincial Library Training School is held for a month in the basement lecture room; a two-month session is provided there in September 1917. 

1917
Children's room is moved to larger quarters in the former lecture room in the basement, opened 30 November.

1938
Renamed Bloor and Gladstone Branch to avoid confusion about the location, December.

1970
Service for the 'more aliened youth of the district" is provided at 'The Place,' a sub-branch project in a storefront on Bloor Street just east of the library; it is soon relocated and taken over by a community board. 

1975
Closed for renovation and expansion, 24 November. Architects: Howard V. Walker and Howard D. Chapman (son of the original architect). Limited service is provided in a storefront at 1124-6 Bloor Street West (corner of Dufferin Street) beginning 25 November. 

1976
Reopened on 7 April.

1991
Closed for carpet replacement on 2 July. Reopened 13 July.

1992
Closed for HVAC retrofit June 8. Reopened 5 July. Became known as Bloor/Gladstone Branch around that time.

1993
Listed on Toronto Historical Board's Inventory of Heritage Properties, adopted by City Council, 22 March.

2006
Closed for restoration, renovation, and expansion, 30 December.  Project Architects: rounthwaite, dick and hadley architects inc in association with Shoalts and Zaback Architects Ltd. and ERA Architects Inc.

2009
Reopened 23 July. Heritage plaque presented by Heritage Toronto in partnership with the Toronto Public Library. Plaque text (PDF)

More Information

Meeting Rooms
For booking information call: 416-393-7674

Room rental information and application forms

Room Type SIZE (sq. ft.) SEATING – lecture style SEATING - classroom style EQUIPMENT Community Room 70 70 - chairs - tables - bulletin board Note: Fire Code Occupancy: 187 Comments: - Community Room and washroom are on the basement level. - Separate wheelchair entrance to the basement level from Bloor Street.

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Updated on: August 31, 2009

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