Toronto’s library lends 21 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Toronto Public Library serves Toronto’s 205 residents. Last year it lent 4,795 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,750 visits.
The short version on Toronto’s library
More library cards than residents
295 cards for 205 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Toronto Public Library ran 76 programs last year, about 1 a week. That’s 371 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. People show up: 589 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Toronto uses its library more than almost any town its size
Toronto Public Library logs 8.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, and lends 21 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Toronto Public Library serves 205 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
34% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Toronto’s civic life grade
Toronto isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
76 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Toronto Public Library serves 205 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
4,795 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 4,903 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
461 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Toronto Public Library, 215 W. Main St., Toronto.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Toronto? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Toronto cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $23K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $84K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $23K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 295 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Toronto
Does Toronto have a public library?
Yes. Toronto Public Library, 215 W. Main St., serves Toronto’s 205 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Toronto Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Toronto’s library?
It logged 8.5 visits and lent 23.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Toronto’s civic life grade?
Toronto isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Toronto.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.