Bloor/Gladstone

1101 Bloor Street West,
Toronto, ON M6H 1M7

Hours

Monday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Tuesday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Wednesday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Thursday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Friday	9:00 am	to	8:30 pm
Saturday	9:00 am	to	5:00 pm
Sunday	1:30 pm	to	5:00 pm

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Wheelchair Accessible
Free Wifi

General Inquiries

To speak directly with staff at Bloor/Gladstone 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 using the link below.

Email Answerline

Directions, TTC & Parking

View on map

Closest major intersection Bloor Street West and Dufferin Street. Located on the south side of Bloor Street, 1/2 block east of Dufferin Street.

Public Transit

TTC Dufferin subway stop. Walk 1/2 block east.

Parking

Paid - Meter parking along Bloor Street. Free.

Upcoming Programs

Featured Programs

Wed, Jun 05

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Nail Salon for All Kids Ages 6+

Celebrate summer with fancy nails for the season! Our nail polish selection is non-toxic, peelable, and water-based. MANIC...

Wed, Jun 05

6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Unsettling Desires: Understanding Sex in Sally Rooney's Normal People

This lecture explores the intersection between sex, social class, desire and violence that are at the core of Sally Rooney...

Thu, Jun 06

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

NFB Screening for National Indigenous Heritage Month

Join us for a screening of several short films from the National Film Board of Canada in celebration of National Indigenou...

Regular Programs

Mon, Jun 03

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

English Conversation Circle

Are you learning English or new to Canada? Come practice your English skills in a relaxing environment and make new friend...

Tue, Jun 04

5:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Board Games @ The Library

Join us on the first Tuesday of each month from 5-6:30 pm and spend an evening playing board games! We have games for all...

Tue, Jun 04

10:00 am - 10:30 am

Toddler Time

Share some of the very best stories, rhymes, and verse. Have fun with your toddler while sharing favourite songs and rhyme...

All Branch Programs and Events

Branch Features

General Features

Equipment for persons with disabilities

Book stand
CCTV (closed circuit TV also called print magnifier)
Computers with screen magnification software (Zoomtext) (2)
Large print keyboard
Large trackball mouse
Magnifier
Natural spectrum lamp
Page turner
Wheelchair accessible furniture

Technology

Collections

Adult Literacy Materials
Audiobooks on CD
Braille Board Books
Large Print Collection

Language

Large collection in French
Medium collection in Chinese-Adult , Portuguese
Small collection in Hindi (DVDs only) , Spanish

Meeting Rooms

For booking information call 416-397-5969.

Community Room

1,060 sq. ft.
Seats 40 lecture style. Seats 40 classroom style.
Equipment:
- flip chart
- large bulletin board
- stand
- 56 stackable chairs
- ceiling mounted video projector

Kitchen

Equipment:
- coffee urns
- kettle
- refrigerator
Community Room is on the lower level. Wheelchair accessible by elevator as well as wheelchair ramp.

History

Year	Details
1911	Toronto City Council votes to provide $60,000 (plus $5,000 for books) to the Toronto Public Library Board for a new branch library in the Dovercourt district. A 150- by 100-foot (46- by 30- metre) site at the southwest corner of Bloor Street and Gladstone Avenue is acquired. Plans by Toronto architects Alfred H. Chapman & Robert B. McGiffin are approved, 12 December. They include a "unique innovation": a summer reading garden between the two wings of the ground floor and open to the south.
1912	Construction starts, 30 April. Cornerstone is laid on 16 October.
1913	Dovercourt Branch officially opened 23 October. Chapman & McGiffin Architects. First TPL branch wholly financed by the City of Toronto.
1916	Ontario’s Provincial Library Training School is held for a month in the basement lecture room; a two-month session is provided there in September 1917.
1917	Children’s room is moved to larger quarters in the former lecture room in the basement, opened 30 November.
1938	Renamed Bloor and Gladstone, December.
1970	Service for the “more aliened youth of the district” is provided at ‘The Place,’ a sub-branch project in a storefront on Bloor Street just east of the library; it is soon relocated and taken over by a community board.
1975	Closed for renovation and expansion, 24 November. Architects: Howard V. Walker and Howard D. Chapman (son of the original architect). Limited service is provided in a storefront at 1124-6 Bloor Street West (corner of Dufferin Street) beginning 25 November.
1976	Reopened on 7 April.
1991	Closed for carpet replacement on 2 July. Reopened 13 July.
1992	Closed for HVAC retrofit June 8. Reopened 5 July.
1993	Listed on Toronto Historical Board's Inventory of Heritage Properties adopted by City Council, 22 March.
2006	Closed for restoration, renovation, and expansion, 30 December. Project Architects: rounthwaite, dick and hadley architects inc in association with Shoalts and Zaback Architects Ltd. and ERA Architects Inc.
2009	Reopened 23 July. Toronto Public Library first building with a green roof. Heritage plaque presented by Heritage Toronto in partnership with the Toronto Public Library commemorating the Dovercourt Branch. Toronto's Historical Plaques. Dovercourt - Bloor/Gladstone Branch history panel (PDF).
2010	Winner of a 2010 international architecture award handed out by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Winner of OLA Library Building Award. Honourable mention for the 2010 William Greer Architectural Conservation & Craftsmanship Award handed out by Toronto Heritage. 2010 Gold award winner handed out by the Design Exchange. 2010 Winner of Best of Canada Award handed out by Canadian Interiors magazine. Posted online in "Special Features" & "Libraries at Night" categories of the American Libraries Architecture Showcase.
2011	Winner of Design Excellence award handed out by the Ontario Association of Architects.
2013	Celebrates 100 years of service to the community, September-October 2013.
2014	Winner of Governor General's Medals in Architecture.

Bloor/Gladstone 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