Carnegie Libraries in Toronto

Among the thousands of "Carnegie Libraries" built across the globe, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie funded ten public libraries in what's now Toronto. TPL still uses most of these heritage buildings — symbols of the long civic tradition of public libraries in our city.

• The buildings
• History of grants

The buildings

Out of ten libraries in Toronto built with Carnegie grants, seven are still used as TPL branches. Two no longer belong to TPL and one no longer exists: Queen & Lisgar and Central Library were sold and converted to other uses — and Mimico Library was demolished in 1966, replaced with a branch honouring Canada's centennial. (A Carnegie grant also partially funded one university library, the Birge Carnegie Library at Victoria College, completed in 1910.)

Our current Carnegie Libraries have been renovated over the years, with an effort to keep the Beaux Arts style of some and the Arts and Crafts flavour of others. Multiple buildings have been expanded with major additions.

History of grants

Conditions for getting a Carnegie grant for a library were straightforward, and civic officials had to agree to them in a formal letter. First, the municipality had to provide a building site. Second, tax dollars had to be allocated to the ongoing operations of the library — no less than 10 percent of the grant, annually. In addition, grants were given only to public libraries that were open to citizens free of charge. The standard award was approximately $2 per capita.

First grant in Toronto

Carnegie's first grant to Toronto of $350,000 was the largest given anywhere in Canada. At the time, only New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had received more funds.

With this 1903 grant, TPL opened a new central library in 1909 and three branches: Yorkville (1907), Queen and Lisgar (1909) and Riverdale (1910).

Second grant in Toronto

A second grant of $50,000 for two more branches was promised on May 8, 1908. However, the death of Chief Librarian James Bain two weeks later, and the subsequent departure of other upper management, caused the grant to be "overlooked" for several years.

The Library had to reapply to the Carnegie Corporation of New York (the foundation that succeeded Carnegie's personal giving in 1911), and it did not receive the second grant until February 6, 1915. With it, three almost identical branches were opened: Beaches, High Park and Wychwood, all in 1916.

Grants outside of what is now central Toronto

Three outlying municipalities, now part of Toronto, also were given Carnegie grants. West Toronto was given $20,000 in 1908, but, due to municipal amalgamation, the library on Annette Street opened in 1909 as the Western Branch (now Annette Street) of TPL. Weston received $10,000 in 1913, and its library was completed in 1914. Mimico was granted $7,500 in 1914 and its new building opened in 1915. (See also: our blog post of postcards of Carnegie Libraries in Ontario.)