North York Central Library is a
Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pu ...
branch located in
North York
North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...
,
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. It is one of the two libraries in Toronto considered to be "Research and Reference Libraries", the other being the
Toronto Reference Library
The Toronto Reference Library is a public reference library in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The library is located on the corner of Yonge Street and Asquith Avenue, within the Yorkville neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The Toronto Reference Library ...
in the city's
downtown core
The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...
. In contrast to the Toronto Reference Library, however, most of the items in the North York Central Library can be signed out.
The library is located inside the North York Centre twin-tower office/hotel/retail complex (5150 Yonge Street). 5150 Yonge Street is on the west side of Yonge Street (across the street from
Empress Walk
Empress Walk is a large Canadian condominium and retail complex at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue in the North York Centre area of North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed by Canadian-developers Menkes Developmen ...
) and forms the north side of
Mel Lastman Square
Mel Lastman Square is a public square at North York Civic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named for then North York mayor (and later Toronto mayor) Mel Lastman. It was officially opened on June 16, 1989 by Norman Jewison and Mel Lastma ...
. The library is adjacent
North York Civic Centre
The North York Civic Centre is a municipal government of Toronto, municipal government building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1979 as the city hall of the former city of North York. It is located in North York City Centre.
Designed by ...
, which until 1998 was the
North York
North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...
's City Hall. It is served by the
North York Centre subway station, which has a direct underground connection to the mall containing the library.
Since 2016, the library has been undergoing a major renovation.
Services
![NorthYorkCentralLibrary9](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/NorthYorkCentralLibrary9.JPG)
North York Central Library has an auditorium, two large meeting rooms, and four quiet study rooms. These spaces may be booked over the phone. Also available are 16 study rooms designated for individual study.
The library also provides accessibility equipment, including a Braille writer, computers loaded with Kurzweil 1000 and 3000 software, magnifiers, and wheelchair accessible furniture.
North York Central Library also provides internet access to patrons through the public computer terminals and free Wi-Fi in the building. There are 115 workstations in the library, 13 of which are in the Computer Learning Centre. Printing and scanning is also available to patrons. North York Central Library also has a microfilm/microfiche reader and printing machine.
Collection
In addition to the books, magazines, newspapers, DVDs, and CDs offered at the branch, North York Central Library houses its own unique selections. Its historical collections have items pertaining to genealogy, Native peoples, North York history, and local Ontario history. The library has materials tailored towards children like the Children's literature resource collection and the
IBBY The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland.
IBBY history
In 1952, Jella Lepm ...
collection for Young People with Disabilities. There are also other collections for older patrons like adult literacy works, audiobooks, and large print books.
There is, as well, a variety of multilingual collections for children and adults (in languages including
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
,
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
along with many others) available to serve North York's ethnically diverse population.
History
Now part of the larger Toronto Public Library system, the first stand-alone facility for the North York Public Library was constructed on Yonge Street at Park Home Avenue in 1959. The Gladys Allison Building (named after the first chair of the Library Board) acted as a central library for all of North York. It served as the library until its closure on October 5, 1985, as a new branch was being built to replace it. A support branch, Central-on-Sheppard, opened to serve the community during the transition period between the closure and the opening of the new central library.
The new North York Central Library, along with the North York City Centre twin-tower office/hotel/retail complex where it is housed, opened on May 13, 1987. It was designed by
Moriyama and Teshima Architects
270px, Lake Biwa from Moriyama
is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 85,485 in 34366 households and a population density of 1533.63 persons per km². The total area of the city is .
Geography
Mo ...
and is characterised by its seven-storey atrium.
![North York Central Library - Interior](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/North_York_Central_Library_-_Interior.jpg)
On November 24, 2016, the Toronto Public Library announced that the branch would be closed until early 2017 for renovations. The last day of service for the branch was December 4. In February 2017, it was announced that the library would remain closed for the remainder of the year to complete more renovation work. The first two floors of the main library re-opened to the public in summer 2018, with the rest of the floors being reopened in phases. While the branch is closed, the library has opened a temporary pop-up location in the concourse level of the adjacent mall.
See also
*
Toronto Public Library
Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pu ...
*
Ontario Public Libraries
This is a list of public libraries in Ontario.
Background
Ontario public libraries are created by municipal by-laws and governed by public library boards. The Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture has responsibility for the administration of ...
References
External links
*
Ontario Public Libraries
{{Authority control
Library buildings completed in 1959
Public libraries in Toronto
North York
Municipal buildings in Toronto
Raymond Moriyama buildings