Northern District

Open today until 8:30pm

Monday

9:00AM - 8:30PM

Tuesday

9:00AM - 8:30PM

Wednesday

9:00AM - 8:30PM

Thursday

9:00AM - 8:30PM

Friday

9:00AM - 8:30PM

Saturday

9:00AM - 5:00PM

Sunday

12:00PM - 5:00PM

40 Orchard View Boulevard

Toronto, ON M4R 1B9

Get Directions

Phone: (416) 393-7610

Answerline: (416) 397-5981

General Inquiries

To speak directly with staff at Northern District Branch during branch hours, please call the number listed above.

For general questions about Toronto Public Library, your account, and quick reference help, email Answerline.

Northern District on X

Wheelchair Accessible

Free Wifi

Featured Services

Youth Hub

Upcoming Events

Holidays and Closures

Family Day

Monday, February 16, 2026

Closed All Day
Good Friday

Friday, April 3, 2026

Closed All Day
Easter Sunday

Sunday, April 5, 2026

Closed All Day
Easter Monday

Monday, April 6, 2026

Closed All Day
Scheduled Sunday Closure

Sunday, May 17, 2026

Closed All Day
Victoria Day

Monday, May 18, 2026

Closed All Day
Canada Day

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Closed All Day
Scheduled Sunday Closure

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Closed All Day
Civic Holiday (Simcoe Day)

Monday, August 3, 2026

Closed All Day
Scheduled Sunday Closure

Sunday, September 6, 2026

Closed All Day
Labour Day

Monday, September 7, 2026

Closed All Day
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Closed All Day
Scheduled Sunday Closure

Sunday, October 11, 2026

Closed All Day
Thanksgiving Day

Monday, October 12, 2026

Closed All Day
Christmas Eve

Thursday, December 24, 2026

Closes early: 1:00pm
Christmas Day

Friday, December 25, 2026

Closed All Day
Boxing Day

Saturday, December 26, 2026

Closed All Day
Scheduled Sunday Closure

Sunday, December 27, 2026

Closed All Day
New Year’s Eve

Thursday, December 31, 2026

Closes early: 1:00pm
New Year’s Day

Friday, January 1, 2027

Closed All Day

About Northern District

- Art Exhibit Space
- Best Bets
- Computer Learning Centre
- Express Checkout
- Flatbed Scanners
- Meeting Room
- Print/Copy/Scan System
- Wireless (Wi-Fi)
- Youth Hub
- Free Menstrual Products
- Local History Collection
- Teen Zone
Closest major intersection Yonge Street and Eglinton Ave. Located 1 block north of Eglinton Ave., 1/2 block west of Yonge Street.

TTC

Eglinton subway station, walk 1 block north on west side of Yonge Street.
Paid - Side street parking, several paid parking lots nearby.
Equipment for persons with disabilities
- Book stand
- CCTV (closed circuit TV also called print magnifer)
- Computer with screen magnification software (Zoomtext)
- Large print keyboard
- Large trackball mouse
- Magnifier
- Natural spectrum lamp
- Page turner
- Wheelchair accessible furniture (currently unavailable)

Collections

Language

Meeting Rooms

For booking information call 416-397-5969.

The Gwen Liu Meeting Room

2389 sq. ft.

Seats 100 lecture style. 32 classroom style. Fire Code Occupancy: 225.

Equipment:

servery (sink and counter)
coat room
flip chart stand
lectern
tables
portable video projector
ceiling-mounted screens

Wheelchair accessible.

Main Floor Meeting Room

820 sq. ft.

Seats 48 lecture style. 24 classroom style.

Equipment:

chairs
easel
flip chart
podium
portable screen
tables

Wheelchair accessible.

Room 224

1600 sq. ft.

Seats 89 lecture style. Seats 32 classroom style. Fire Code Occupancy: 200.

Equipment:

coat rack
flip chart stand
lectern
portable video projector
portable screen and ceiling mounted screen
tables

Wheelchair accessible.

Kitchen

Equipment:

convection microwave
refrigerator

History

Year	Details
1909	A public library association is incorporated at North Toronto, becoming a free public library in 1910. The Town of North Toronto provides operating funds and supplies a room for the library on the second floor of its town hall (Langley, Langley & Burke, 1882) on Yonge Street at the northwest corner of Montgomery Avenue.
1912	The library is relocated to a rented storefront at 2239 Yonge Street, east side, between Broadway and Erskine avenues. The Town of North Toronto is annexed to the City of Toronto, 15 December. In its final year of operation, the North Toronto Public Library has total receipts of $1,877 and expenditures of $1,875 including $734.59 for rent, heat and lighting and $297 on salaries. (Alfred P. Frohns, a local watchmaker and jeweller, is the librarian). The library has 3,000 books, which the 813 members (of 6,000 residents) borrow 13,307 times.
1913	The assets of the town's library are transferred to the Toronto Public Library Board as of 1 May. Toronto Public Library renovates the rented premises at 2239 Yonge Street, which reopens in June as its Northern Branch. By 1915, the building is renumbered to 2435 Yonge Street. The library remained at this location until December 16, 1916.
1917	Northern Branch is relocated to rented premises at 2 Albertus Avenue, at the northwest corner of Yonge Street, 12 January. The Young Men's Christian Association had used the building from 1914.
1922	Toronto Public Library Board pays $33,000 to the Eglinton Presbyterian Church for its former church (1909) at 14 St. Clements Avenue, northwest corner of Yonge Street, with the sale completed on 15 November. The Albertus Avenue location is closed on 16 December.
1923	Northern Branch opens at the new location, renovated for library purposes, 15 January.
1954	Northern Branch is renamed St. Clements Branch, 9 June, reflecting that it is no longer Toronto Public Library's most northern branch, since the opening of the George H. Locke Memorial Branch on 5 January 1949.
1966	Toronto Public Library plans to build three district libraries, beginning in the Eglinton and Yonge area by 1972.
1968	Toronto Public Library plans to construct a 24-story office block at the northwest corner of Yonge and Orchard View Boulevard. The first two floors will be for library purposes and the rest will be rented.
1971	With the prohibitive cost of land fronting Yonge Street, the Toronto Public Library Board starts to purchase properties in the central portion of the Yonge, Duplex, Orchard View and Helendale block. By 1973, a site of 5,931 square metres (63,900 square feet) had been assembled, with a frontage of 68.5 metres (225 feet) on Orchard View Boulevard and 69.4 metres (228 feet) on Helendale Avenue.
1974	Construction starts, 15 March.
1975	St. Clements Branch is closed, 29 November. Its staff and collections became part of the new Northern District Library, which opens on Monday, 15 December. Northern District is the Toronto Public Library's first district branch, and the first library in Metropolitan Toronto to have an automated circulation system. The old St. Clements Branch is turned over to the City of Toronto. Northern District Library opened 15 December. Pentland & Baker, Architects. TPL's Film Department is relocated to Northern District with the closure of the Learning Resources Centre at Forest Hill Branch.
1980	After more than a year of discussion, the Toronto Public Library Board agrees on 3 September to support, in principle, the construction of non profit housing primarily for seniors above the Northern District Library by the Stanley Knowles Housing Cooperative through its agent, the Canadian Labour Development Foundation, the sale of air rights being contingent on community support for the development. The cooperative is named for Stanley Knowles (1908-1997), a longtime Canadian parliamentarian, in honour of his commitment to social and economic rights for senior citizens.
1981	Board approves the overall design concept of the proposed housing project over 40 Orchard View Blvd; assents to the extension of the contract between the Tsow/Pollard partnership and the Stanley Knowles Housing Cooperative so that the architects may proceed to the design phase of the project and authorizes the Stanley Knowles Housing Cooperative to proceed with the application for an amendment to the Official Plan and rezoning for this project, 4 February.
1983	TPL Board approves on 16 March the lease between it and the Stanley Knowles Housing Cooperative Inc, for the lease of the air rights above, and certain areas within, the library buildings at 40 Orchard View Boulevard, for a period of 50 years. In return for a net rent of $772,500, paid in advance, the Board agrees to allow the Cooperative to erect a non-profit 103 unit apartment building in the leased air rights, in accordance with the Site By-Law, which provides for predominately senior citizen housing. Construction starts in March. The building is dedicated with Stanley Knowles in attendance, 16 July 1983.
1984	Stanley Knowles Housing Cooperative is officially opened, 26 May.
2007	New hours, 8 January. Hours open per week increased from 60.5 to 65.5.
2010	Closed for renovation as of 4 July. Ken Fukushima Architecture.
2011	Reopened 3 February. Northern Distict Branch history panel (PDF). Library service in North Toronto history panel (PDF).

Map

New at Northern District

Land Acknowledgement

Northern District 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 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

Search

Northern District

General Inquiries

Featured Services

Youth Hub

Upcoming Events

Toddler Time

Coffee and Conversation with Alzheimer Society of Toronto

Youth Hub: Fluid Art Workshop

Baby Time