Toronto Public Library is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other public library system internationally, making it the largest neighbourhood-based library system in the world. Within North America, it also had the highest circulation and visitors when compared to other large urban systems. Established as the library of the Mechanics' Institute in 1830, the Toronto Public Library now consists of 100 branch libraries and has over 12 million items in its collection.
Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video games, newspapers and magazines. Across 22 locations and online, VPL serves nearly 428,000 active members and is the third-largest public library system in Canada.
The State Library of South Australia, or SLSA, formerly known as the Public Library of South Australia, located on North Terrace, Adelaide, is the official library of the Australian state of South Australia. It is the largest public research library in the state, with a collection focus on South Australian information, being the repository of all printed and audiovisual material published in the state, as required by legal deposit legislation. It holds the "South Australiana" collection, which documents South Australia from pre-European settlement to the present day, as well as general reference material in a wide range of formats, including digital, film, sound and video recordings, photographs, and microfiche. Home access to many journals, newspapers and other resources online is available.
The Toronto Reference Library is a public reference library in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The library is located on the corner of Yonge Street and Asquith Avenue, within the Yorkville neighbourhood of downtown Toronto. The Toronto Reference Library is the largest and most visited branch of Toronto Public Library (TPL).
Old Toronto is the part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the original City of Toronto which existed from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York County. Toronto periodically grew in size by annexing adjacent land and municipalities.
The Greater Victoria Public Library (GVPL) is a public library that serves Victoria, British Columbia and the surrounding area.
The Kitchener Public Library is the public library system for the city of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It consists of five libraries; a large Central Library in the downtown core, with four Community Libraries spread out to provide services for the neighbourhoods of Kitchener.
The Peterborough Public Library is a public library system in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
The Oakland Public Library is the public library in Oakland, California. Opened in 1878, the Oakland Public Library currently serves the city of Oakland, along with neighboring smaller cities Emeryville and Piedmont. The Oakland Public Library has the largest collection of any public library in the East Bay, featuring approximately 1.5 million items. It consists of a main library located in downtown Oakland, and 16 branch libraries throughout the city.
James Bain was a Scottish-Canadian bookseller, publisher, and librarian. Born in London, England, his family emigrated to Toronto when he was 6 years old. After completing his education at the Toronto Grammar School, he went to work for his father who was a stationer and bookseller. He was active in the publishing industry both in England and in Canada, joining the firm John Nimmo & Son which later became Nimmo & Bain. He returned to Canada in 1882. After managing the fledgling Canada Publishing Company, Bain was selected in 1883 to become the first chief librarian of the Toronto Public Library. He held this position until his death in 1908.
The Whitby Public Library is a public library that serves the town of Whitby, Ontario, Canada, with three branches. The library is governed through a ten-person library board appointed by the town, and operated by a staff of more than 80 full and part-time employees. As of 2016, there were over 1.4 million items circulated and the system had a Can$5,700,000 budget.
Richmond Hill Public Library is the organization that runs public libraries in the town of Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.
Hamilton City Libraries are a group of six libraries in Hamilton, New Zealand, owned by the local city council. They lend fiction and non-fiction, magazines, audiobooks, CDs and DVDs. From November 2016 to 9 July 2018, a substitute library compensated for the temporarily closed Central branch, and the libraries closed for over 2 months for COVID-19 in 2020. Waikato residents without local libraries can freely use the Hamilton libraries.
Oshawa Public Libraries (OPL) is a public library system that serves a population of more than 170,000 people in the City of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. OPL has 4 branches, each serving its respective region of Oshawa, and sharing its collections in common amongst all the branches within the system. The City of Oshawa is situated on the Lake Ontario shoreline approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto.
Mechanics' Hall was a concert hall on the ground floor of the Mechanics' Institutes building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The hall was used for theatrical productions, music concerts, public meetings, and lectures from 1856 to 1883.
Guelph Public Library is a public library system serving the city of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The main library downtown, five branches, and a bookmobile serve about 123,000 residents in Guelph. The current CEO is Steven Kraft.
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is generally funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
Henry Cummings Campbell BA BLS MA was a Canadian educator and librarian, and Chief Librarian of the Toronto Public Library.
The Westland District Library is the public library in Hokitika, on the West Coast of New Zealand. Beginning as the Hokitika Literary Society in 1866, it occupied a Carnegie library building from 1908 as the Hokitika Free Public Library, moving out in 1975.
