Yorkville Branch is the Toronto Public Library's oldest building, the first of four libraries constructed with a 1903 grant from the Carnegie Corporation. It replaced the Library's first branch, "Northern", which had opened in the former Yorkville Town Hall in 1884, only one year after Toronto's annexation of Yorkville and the introduction of free library service to the city. This building was designed by City Architect Robert McCallum in Beaux-Arts style, thought to give an appropriate seriousness to a civic structure. Typical of many Carnegie libraries, it is marked by a broad flight of steps leading to a raised single storey, and by strong symmetry and classical details best seen in the imposing central entrance with its columned portico. Constructed of yellow brick with Ohio sandstone, Yorkville Branch was renovated and expanded in 1978.
Yorkville Branch Library opened on June 13, 1907, in what was then the city's north end. It was the first of four libraries constructed with a $350,000 grant made by Andrew Carnegie to Toronto Public Library in 1903. Designed by Robert McCallum, City Architect, Yorkville's classical, Beaux Arts style is similar to libraries in many smaller Ontario communities. It is now Toronto Public Library's oldest library. Yorkville Branch, like many early Carnegie libraries, was divided at first into several separate areas. Books were shelved in a closed "stack room" and brought by a staff member to the delivery desk on customer request. By this time (1911), the Toronto Public Library Board had adopted the "Open Shelf" storage system, which allowed readers to browse the books and not have to request them from staff. The area beyond the door was designated for children and teachers. Note the light sources: two of these were uncovered in May 2003 during a retrofit of the library.