About the Library

In this section

• Jobs at the Library
• Doing Business with the Library
• Vision, Mission & Values
• Customer Feedback Standards & Practices
• History of Toronto Public Library
• Library Board
• Advisory Councils
• Strategic Plans, Annual Reports & Statistics
• Service Plans, Strategies, Frameworks & Reports
• Library Finance

About TPL

Toronto Public Library is the busiest urban public library system in the world. Every year, we have millions of users visiting our branches and taking advantage of our online services.

We empower Torontonians to thrive in the digital age and global knowledge economy. With expanded access to technology, lifelong learning and diverse cultural and leisure experiences, Torontonians have increased opportunities for growth and success, as well as stronger connections to each other and their communities.

To learn about Toronto Public Library's internal structure, please see our organizational charts (PDF)

Key Facts 2020

• Toronto Public Library is one of the world's busiest library systems
• We had 5,557,751 visits to our 100 branches
• 68% of Torontonians use Toronto Public Library
• 1,047,034 people are registered Toronto Public Library cardholders
• Collections are comprised of over 10.5 million items including books, CDs, DVDs and eBooks, with 40 languages represented in library materials
• Torontonians borrowed library materials over 21,000,916 million times
• Circulation of digital content surpassed 10.5 million. TPL customers set a global record with the download of 8.7 million OverDrive items.
• There were over 32.3 million visits to tpl.ca
• There were 1.7 million wireless sessions in library branches
• 162,971 participants attended 8,705 in-person library programs; we offered 963 online programs with total views and attendance of 72,872
• 70,000 people registered for a library card; 6,382 registrations were for the newly launched Digital Access Card
• 8.9 million holds were placed at our 100 branches and through the website
• There were 93,276 items borrowed through our Home Library Service
• We distributed 1,000 wireless hotspot devices
• In the early stages of the pandemic, 12 library locations provided temporary food bank services to the community. Library staff packed 14,000 food hampers, and distributed almost 14,750 food hampers to help meet the needs of more than 42,300 individuals.