The benefactor of
Toronto General Hospital's library - Harris Henry Fudger (1852-1930) - was a millionaire, a president of the Robert Simpson Company stores in Toronto for 30 years, and a trustee of the hospital for 10 years. But above all, he was known as a scrupulously honest, kind-hearted and modest man. He supported many of Toronto's cultural endeavours, including the Art Gallery of Ontario with its Fudger wing. In his will, he asked that the proceeds of selling any of his foundations should go to the Toronto General Hospital Endowment Fund. When this occurred, his executors decided to give $100,000 to found the Fudger Medical Library, now the health sciences library at the Toronto General Hospital.
The Fudger Medical Library opened its doors in May 1964, and its full-time professional librarian and staff offered reference and inter-library loan services, and access to 1200 books and over 200 periodicals. It was housed in the south wing of the Private Patients' Pavilion (later named the Thomas J. Bell Wing) and moved to the Eaton Wing's first floor in 2001.
