North York Central Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North York Central Library is located in northern Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the intersection of Yonge Street and Empress Avenue, north of Sheppard Avenue. The library is located on the west side of Yonge Street beside Mel Lastman Square in the mall of the North York Civic Centre, which until 1998 was North York's City Hall. Its mailing address is 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M2N 5N9.
North York Central Library is served by the North York Centre subway station, which is adjacent to the mall containing the library (which is officially called the City Centre North York but almost always referred to as the North York Centre). North York Central Library is one of the two libraries in Toronto considered to be "Research and Reference Libraries", the other being the Toronto Reference Library downtown. In contrast to the Toronto Reference Library, however, most of the items in the North York Central Library can be signed out.
Research and Reference Libraries are the largest libraries in Toronto, are open the longest hours, and have the most extensive collections.
It is the largest library in the former city of North York (which is now amalgamated with Toronto). It has 517,600 items in its collection made up of a wide range of books, magazines, newspapers, videos, tapes and other media. The library building has six floors (and a total floor space of 168,022 sq. ft. (15,626 m²). The library contains sections on children's and teen literature, literature and fine arts, language, society and recreation, business and urban affairs, science and technology, and Canadiana. There is, as well, a variety of multilingual collections for children and adults (in languages including Chinese, Dutch, and Hindi, along with many others) available to serve North York's ethnically diverse population.
On the top floor, it has a large collection of historical Canadian newspapers stored on rolls of film going back to, in some cases, the late 1800s. There are special printers which can print the images which are stored on film.
Also contained within the building is a 1,764-square-foot auditorium.
[edit] History
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 main or central library, offering extensive services and a comprehensive collection for not only the surrounding neighbourhood, but the whole community of North York.
The Gladys Allison Building, closed on October 5, 1985. A support branch, Central-on-Sheppard, opened to serve the community during the closure until the new North York Central Library opened.
The new North York Central Library, in the North York City Centre, opened on May 13, 1987.
