In 1967, the Metropolitan Toronto Library Board was established by the Metropolitan Toronto government in order to bring together the resources and collections of the central libraries and library systems within Metro Toronto; including the Toronto Reference Library. By 1968, the board had decided to build a replacement building for the Toronto Reference Library, with spacing becoming an issue in the original 1909 building. Additionally, the board viewed the original building was situated far too west for it to properly serve as a library for the metropolitan region. In 1971, Raymond Moriyama was commissioned by the library board to perform a site study for a replacement building; with the board specifying the location had to be between St. Clair Avenue and Queen Street, and near a Toronto subway station. Moriyama eventually choose a location on Asquith and Yonge Street, partly due to its proximity to Bloor–Yonge station. In 1972, the library board had approved the purchase of the site for C$7 million, and allocated a further C$23 million to construct a new building.