On 8 September 1909, TPL officially opened the Toronto Reference Library at a building on the northwest corner of College and St. George streets. The Beaux-Arts styled building was designed by Wickson & Gregg and Alfred H. Chapman. The building was the largest Carnegie-funded library built in Ontario. When the reference library first opened, its collection contained 97,788 books. In addition to the reference library, a TPL branch with a circulating collection was established in the basement of the building. After renovations to the building were completed in 1930, a new circulating library was also opened in the building on 21 April.