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Toronto Reference Library (TRL)

	Mon.: 9:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Tue.: 9:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Wed.: 9:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Thu.: 9:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Fri.: 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Sat.: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sun.: 1:30-5:00 p.m. (Sept. 13 to Jun. 20) Facilities for people with disabilities
789 Yonge St.  Toronto, ON, M4W 2G8  416-395-5577
Driving & TTC Directions / Collections / Services / Historical / Meeting Rooms
Programs

Collections Available

	Browsery		Main Reference
	Business Information Centre		Performing Arts Centre
	Centre for People with Disabilities		Periodicals and Newspapers Centre
	Consumer Health Information Service		Picture Collection
	Genealogy and Local History Collection		Toronto Reference Library Languages Centre
	Languages Centre		Toronto Star Newspaper Centre
	Local History Collection

Special Collections

	Arthur Conan Doyle Collection
	Baldwin Room
		John Ross Robertson Collection
	Art Room Collection
	Map Collection

French Collections

Adult Multilingual Collections

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Language Print Periodicals Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azeri Basque Belarusian Bengali Breton Bulgarian Burmese Back to A-Z Cambodian Catalan Chinese Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Esperanto Estonian Back to A-Z Finnish Frisian Gaelic Gallegan (ROA) Georgian German Greek Gujarati Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Ilokano Indonesian Irish Italian Back to A-Z Japanese Kannada Korean Kurdish Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Back to A-Z Macedonian Malay Malayalam Maltese Marathi Mongolian Nepali Norwegian Back to A-Z Panjabi Persian Polish Portuguese Romanian Romansh Russian Back to A-Z Sanskrit Semitic Serbian Sindhi Sinhalese Slovak Slovene Somali Spanish Swahili Swedish Back to A-Z Tagalog Tamil Telugu Thai Tibetan Tigrinya Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish Zulu Back to A-Z

Services

• Book-drop-day
• Coffee/Refreshment Stand
• Equipment for people with disabilities
• Exhibit/Art Gallery
• IntelliSearch - custom research
• Internet/Microsoft Office computers: 220
• Large Print Terminals/Workstations
• Learning Centres (# of computers = 40)
• Microform Reader Printer
• Newcomer Information Service
• Piano/Practice room
• Public Phones (inside)
• Seating (1,423)
• TTY Service
• Wireless Internet Access
• Other: Digital Design Studio

Equipment for people with disabilities

• Magnifiers
• Closed circuit television systems (CCTV's) that enlarge print up to 60 times, with black and white and colour monitors.
• Kurzweil Personal Reading machine that scans printed text and reads it aloud in a synthetic voice
• Computer workstation with Kurzweil 1000 software that scans print and reads it aloud in a synthetic voice
• Braille typewriter
• Teletypewriter (TTY) for free local calls
• A wheelchair for in-library use
• Worktables and study carrels with wheelchair accessibility
• Computer workstations with Internet access, Microsoft Office and screen magnification software (Zoomtext) and screen reading software (JAWS)
• Page turner
• Book stands
• Cassette players (2/4 track)
• FM amplification system, available upon request
• DAISY player

Historical Background

1830
York Mechanics' Institute founded to promote adult education by providing a library, lectures and night classes; renamed Toronto Mechanics Institute in 1834, when the Town of York became the City of Toronto.

1846
Moved from rented premises to the second floor above the Court Street Fire Hall.

1861
Toronto Mechanics's Institute opened at the northeast corner of Church and Adelaide streets. The building included a library with a separate reading room. Architects: F.W. Cumberland & G. W. Storm.

1882
Ontario Free Libraries Act passed by the Ontario Legislature, the first such act in Canada.

1883
Toronto voters approved a free public library bylaw to establish a public library, January 1. Toronto Mechanics' Institute building and collections transferred to the new Toronto Public Library Board, March.

1884
Toronto Public Library officially opened, March 6, the fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Toronto.

1903
Toronto's Carnegie Libraries - Central Reference Library
Carnegie Corporation of New York granted $350,000 to TPL for a new central library and three branch libraries on the condition that the city would provide the land and guarantee $35,000 a year to support the library.

1904
Site for a new central library acquired at the northwest corner of College and St. George streets.

1909
Public Reference Library officially opened, September 8. Wickson & Gregg and A.H. Chapman, associated architects. Reference collection transferred from old Central Library (renamed Church Street Branch). Circulating collection transferred from College Street Branch, which had been located in rented premises at College Street and Brunswick Avenue, 1900-8.

1930
Addition for a new Circulating Library officially opened, April 21. Architect, Chapman & Oxley, in association with Wickson & Gregg.

1953
Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto established, providing upper-tier municipal government for the municipalities of Toronto.

1960
Dr. Ralph Shaw recommended that a library board be established to provide a reference library for Metropolitan Toronto. The collection would be based on the reference and circulating departments of Toronto Public Library's Central Library, and be located in the existing Central Library until a new facility could be built.

Addition for book stacks and a reading room officially opened, April 4.

1966
Metropolitan Toronto Library Board established, by an amendment to the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act. It was "to provide reference services to the metro area, promote interlibrary lending, and provide co-ordinating services to local library systems." (Penman, A Century of Service, 70).

1972
Site acquired on Yonge Street, at the northeast corner of Asquith Avenue, for a new reference library

1973
College and St. George street building listed by Toronto City Council listed on the City of Toronto’s Inventory of Heritage Properties, 20 June. Designation by-law passed by Toronto City Council, 26 November 1975.

1974
Raymond Moriyama appointed architect of the new Reference Library.

1977
New reference library officially opened, 2 November. The old reference library taken over by the University of Toronto for a student centre and a bookstore.

1994
Addition to the Reference Library opened.

1997
The City of Toronto Act (Bill 103) passed by the Ontario Legislature, amalgamating the seven existing municipal governments of Metropolitan Toronto.

1998
Seven library boards in Metropolitan Toronto united into one library called the Toronto Public Library. Within the newly amalgamated library system, the Toronto Reference Library assumed its role as a Research and Reference Library.

2001
Digital Design Studio opened to public, 26 February.
Information Commons opened to public, 4 July.
Toronto Star Newspaper Centre refurbished, 20 November.

2002
Virtual Reference Desk introduced 4 November.

2003
Computer Terrace Opened.

2004
Two New Learning Centres opened.

More Information

Meeting Rooms
For booking information call: 416-397-5969

Room rental information and application forms

Room Type SIZE (sq. ft.) SEATING – lecture style SEATING - classroom style EQUIPMENT Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium 1,700 180 75 - tables - projection screen (ceiling mounted) - microphone (additional charge) - overhead projector (additional charge) - flipchart stands - whiteboard - podium with light Note: Fire Code Occupancy: 180 Beeton East 785 60 25 - tables - wall for screen - microphone (additional charge) - overhead projector (additional charge) - flipchart stand - podium with light - whiteboard Note: Fire Code Occupancy: 60 Beeton West 915 80 38 - tables - projection screen (ceiling mounted) - microphone (additional charge) - overhead projector (additional charge) - flipchart stand - podium with light - whiteboard Note: Fire Code Occupancy: 80 Room B-1 305 15 n/a - table - overhead projector (additional charge) - flipchart stand - whiteboard Note: Fire Code Occupancy: 15 Kitchen n/a n/a n/a Available only when Beeton Auditorium (whole, East, or West) only has been booked: - microwave - refrigerator Comments: - Beeton Auditorium is located at the north end on the main level; Room B-1 is located on the lower level; wheelchair accessible washroom is located on the main level. - Kitchen 1. If using a caterer, installation and removal of catering equipment must take place within the hours of the room booking, unless other arrangements have been made 2. Facilities are not available for use when booking Room B-1 - Additional booking fees for overhead projector, microphone, and set-up fee.

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Updated on: February 8, 2010

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