Toronto Public Library - Fort York Branch

I love the Toronto Public Library, especially this branch! It became my favorite place during COVID. I placed so many orders for books, comics, and anime — especially Naruto: Shippuden. Since Netflix only had the first 10 seasons available, I was able to get the remaining seasons here and continue the series properly. I’ve continued using this branch ever since. They also offer great learning experiences and programs, which makes it more than just a library — it’s a community space. Highly recommend!

The space is fairly well structured. However, there does not appear to be enough desktop space as during almost all hours of the day that space is fully occupied. Additionally, whilst some staff are more friendly than others, some are really abrupt in their behaviour and seem like they will snap at you for literally no reason. Lastly, in possibly most importantly the WIFI is concerningly slow for a library to the point where a network speed tester isn’t loading.

Clean tables to study, good internet, respectful people. Nice place for meetings and study.

🥉No private room for meetings 🥈It is a playroom for kids that they offered me to go there for my meeting 🥉It is not comfortable for professionals working remotely as it is not that quiet and there are lots of distractions. 🥉chair seats are not comfortable enough to sit for long hours. 🥇the variety of seats are so much 🥇 there is a quiet table which everybody are so quiet but it is not far from different areas so it is not that quiet. 🥉there is no place to warm the food 🥈Desks were mostly full at 9:15 in the morning 🥉 some stools are that old that the leather is worn out 🥇good internet speed 🥉the sound of closing curtains is so much 🥇 it’s good that children area is in different floor from adult studying area

Small branch with two levels. There is a limited selection of children's books. Luckily, you can reserve books from other branches and have them available to check out here. There are many programs for younger children. While we were there, there was a program for babies. Currently, they have a Summer Reading Club for your child. This ensures they keep reading over the summer and do not fall behind. Overall, this is a good branch.

The digital innovation hub has the absolute worst set of male staff. I was helped once by a lovely woman, but every time I have to interact with one of the guys working here I am treated like a total inconvenience. These guys have zero interest in doing their jobs or helping people with tasks. On one instance I came in with an hour left in the library hours and one of them told me there wasn’t enough time to take a few photos on the camera. We persisted and left with 45 minutes to spare. They would rather have the studio sit empty becuase someone has it booked - even though the protocol is if someone doesn’t show up for a certain amount of time it’s available to the public. This is such an incredible public resource that could help so many people but it’s such a shame that it’s staffed by people who couldn’t care less. I understand the challenges that come with public facing jobs having worked them for almost my entire life. But meeting people with kindness is the bare minimum especially in a community hub like the public library.

Good library but they are horrible at announcing closures beyond putting a mere piece of paper on their front door. Driven here almost 5 times just to see the notice that they’re closed, despite their answering machine and google page indicating open. Please have some consideration for notifying people in advance.

Nicest library in the city to sit in and relax with a book or work. It's all glass allowing plenty of natural light in. While not too big it is also not too busy, and any spot you find will give you a nice view of the outside.