The York Mechanic's Institute

At the North-East corner of Church and Adelaide Streets sits a heritage plaque:

 

This was not a former automobile garage, nor was it a training facility for mechanics. It was more a place for teaching new methods of manufacturing and craftsmanship.
It sponsored lectures, held classes and operated a lending library.
This was one of the many steps that eventually led to the present Toronto Library System.
It wasn't until the early 1900's that borrowers were allowed to retrieve books for themselves, instead of asking the staff.
Over the years, the City received enough money from Andrew Carnegie to build ten libraries.
As well, the Library has been the recipient of a number of private collections from a few philanthropists.
One such gift was over 4,000 pictures and pictorial material from John Ross Robertson. This Toronto resident was the founder of the Toronto Telegram, and a fervent advocate of amateur hockey. There is a plaque in front of his home on Sherbourne Street and there is a Public School named after him.
Another donation came from a British librarian back in 1934 (the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books). As well, the is a Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection housed on the second floor of the Lillian H. Smith Library. This collection was donated by Judith Merrill, a fiction writer herself. It is a non-circulating research collection of over 72,000 items.
Her life story is something that I should blog about in the near future.
While the world was celebrating the arrival of the Millennium, the Toronto Public Library received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This allowed the library to purchase 400 internet workstations.
On going sponsor-ships from companies such as the Toronto Star and Toronto Dominion Bank, have allowed the Toronto Reference Library to display some of their collections.