Don Mills

888 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto, ON M3C 1P6

Contact Don Mills

Hours

Monday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Tuesday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Wednesday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Thursday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Friday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Saturday	9:00 am	to	5:00 pm
Sunday	1:30 pm	to	5:00 pm

Wheelchair Accessible
Free Wifi

Directions, TTC & Parking

View on map

Closest major intersection Lawrence Ave. East and Don Mills Road. Located on the northwest corner of Lawrence Ave. East and Donway West.

Public Transit

TTC bus #162 Lawrence Donway - from Lawrence subway station to Donway (no weekend service).
TTC bus #25 Don Mills - from Don Mills or Pape subway station to Lawrence Ave. East, stops 1 block east of the library.
TTC bus #54 Lawrence East/West - from Eglinton subway station.

Parking

47 public parking spaces, including 2 disabled spaces.

Featured Services

Toronto Reference Library subjects by floor

Book a librarian for research or technology help.

Rare books and special collections

Visit TD Gallery
Showcasing art, artifacts, manuscripts and more.

Upcoming Programs

Featured Programs

Fri, Jan 18

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Nutrition In Our Golden Years - A Healthy Eating Guide for Optimal Health, Well

This nutritional talk is targeted toward seniors and will provide guidance,...

Fri, Jan 18

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Plasticine Storytelling P.A. Day

Inspired by beloved Canadian illustrator Barbara Reid, use a clear plastic CD case and Plasticine, create a 3D scene with ...

Sat, Jan 19

11:00 am - 11:30 am

Reading Make You Feel Good Storytime

Celebrate Family Literacy Month with a special storytime all about the joy of reading the love of books! Stories, songs, r...

Regular Programs

Wed, Jan 16

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

French Homework Club

Voilà Learning in partnership with the Toronto Public Library offers a French Homework Club for students in grades 1-6 stu...

Thu, Jan 17

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Book Club: Thursdays

Join us for stimulating conversation about great books. You and your fellow book club members decide in advance which book...

Sun, Jan 20

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Family Time

Sundays, January 6 to June 23. Stories, songs, rhymes and activities for children 5 years and under with their parents or ...

All Branch Programs and Events

Branch Features

General Features

Art Exhibit Space
Automated Checkin
Book Discussion Group: contact the branch for more information
Book Drop - After Hours
Express Checkout
Free Parking
Public Phone (inside)
Seating for 95

Equipment for persons with disabilities

Book stand
CCTV (closed circuit TV also called print magnifier)
Computer with screen magnification software (Zoomtext)
Large print keyboard
Large trackball mouse
Magnifier
Natural spectrum lamp
Page turner
Wheelchair accessible furniture

Technology

Collections

Adult Literacy Materials
Audiobooks on CD
Large Print Collection
Local History Collection

Language

Large collection in Chinese, French, Japanese
Medium collection in German
Small collection in Arabic, Hindi, Malayalam, Persian, Spanish

Meeting Rooms

For booking information call 416-397-5969.

Auditorium

1,260 sq. ft.
Seats 90 lecture style. Seats 80 classroom style. Fire Code Occupancy: 150.
Equipment:
- chairs
- coat rack
- easel
- podium
- portable video projector
- projection screen (ceiling mounted)
- tables
- whiteboard

Meeting Room 1

248 sq. ft.
Seats 12 lecture style. Seats 8 classroom style. Fire Code Occupancy: 29.
Equipment:
- chairs
- tables
- whiteboard

Meeting Room 2

248 sq. ft.
Seats 12 lecture style. Seats 8 classroom style. Fire Code Occupancy: 29.
Equipment:
- chairs
- tables
- whiteboard

Auditorium and Meeting Room, and wheelchair accessible washrooms are located on the lower level (elevator available).

History

Year	Details
1855	A library is established in S. S. No. 9 (the so-called Don school), a red brick schoolhouse built in 1853 at the southeast corner of today's Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East on land donated by William Milne. The library may have been discontinued in 1869; from 1870 on, being librarian is not mentioned in teacher contracts.
1896	Don Public Library is established, with the first meeting of the board of management held on 20 April 1896. The first books were placed on shelves in Agnes (Aggie) Hogg's general store, located on the east side of Don Mills Road, north of the Grand Trunk Railway bridge, which she operated along with the Don Post Office and the library as a public service.
1904	Listed as a "free" public library.
1918-20	Don Public Library is moved from the general store to an abandoned military hut on the farm of James Muirhead, located on the west side of Don Mills Road, about a quarter-mile north of today's Lawrence Avenue (west half of lot 7, 3rd concession east of Yonge Street, York Township).
1937	Don Public Library is closed. The children's books are transferred to Don School Section No. 9 York Township, and the old library building is given to Gordon Muirhead, who converted it to a hen house.
1954	North York Public Library Association Board announces on 14 July that its first bookmobile will stop at the "Don Mills development".
1955	North York Public Library Board announces on 24 May that one of its first two branches will be called Don Mills.
1956	Craig and Madill, Architects are appointed as the architects for the Don Mills Branch, 18 April. On 4 May, the Library Board authorizes the purchase of “approximately 250 feet of Lawrence Avenue frontage at the west side of the Donway West from Curran Hall Construction Company at a price of $30,000, conditional on our being able to obtain the necessary assurances that construction of a library be permitted on this site with a vehicular entrance on Lawrence Avenue or the Donway.” On 12 September, it authorizes “purchase for the remainder of all the vacant land lying to the west of the present Don Mills site for the sum of approximately $15,000.00.” The Don Mills Branch was projected to cost $250,000.
1961	Don Mills Branch is opened at the current location by the North York Public Library Board, 14 November. Officially opened 15 April 1962. Craig, Madill, Abram and Ingleson, Architects.
1963	Renovated and enlarged to regional/area size. Craig, Madill, Abram and Ingleson, Architects.
1994	Renovated. Reopened 13 June. Joseph Bogdan Associates Architects.
1997	Included on an inventory of North York's Modernist Architecture prepared by the City of North York Planning Department, Urban Design Division.
2007	New hours, 8 January. Number of open hours per week unchanged.
2011	Don Mills Branch celebrates 50th Anniversary. Open house and festivities held on 12 November.
2013	Closed 19 August for beginning of renovation and RFID installation. Reopened 26 August with limited access while renovation continued.
2014	Closed 10 February for completion of renovation and RFID installation. Reopened 18 February. Architect Ken Fukushima.

Land Acknowledgement

Don Mills is on Indigenous land. This is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee (ho-den-oh-sho-nee) Confederacy (aka. the Six Nations Confederacy), the Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. Toronto Public Library gratefully acknowledges these Indigenous nations for their guardianship of this land. We'd also like to remind and reaffirm, as Torontonians and Canadians, our accountability to these Indigenous nations, and to all Indigenous peoples and communities living in Toronto.

This land is also part of the Dish with One Spoon territory, a treaty between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (aka. The Six Nations Confederacy), the Anishinaabek (Ah-nish-nah-bek) and allied nations, to peaceably share and care for this land, its waters, and all of the biodiversity in the Great Lakes region. All those who come to live and work here are responsible for honouring this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect. About Land Acknowledgement Statements