Central Library - 1st Floor Women's Washroom Maintenance

Central Library's 1st Floor Women's Washroom will be closed Monday morning (July 21). Please use the washrooms on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors. 

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Affected Branch: Central Library
Published:
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - 2:00pm
Catalogue Maintenance

HPL's catalogue is not available Sunday July, 20 5:00am - 10:00am due to system maintenance. Thank you for your patience.

All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Wednesday, July 16, 2025 - 2:00pm
Locke Branch - Filming

Filming will take place near the Locke Branch from July 13 to 16, which will impact traffic flow and parking. We apologize for the inconvenience.

  • North side of Homewood Avenue between Lockes Street South and Kent Street
  • North/South side of Stanley Avenue
  • East side of Kent Street between Stanley Avenue and Homewood Avenue
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Published:
Friday, July 11, 2025 - 8:00am
Terryberry Branch Elevator Out of Order

The parking lot elevator at Terryberry Branch is not working. Members will need to use the accessible ramp at the Mohawk entrance and the inner elevator. We're working to get it fixed quickly.

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Published:
Saturday, May 31, 2025 - 1:00pm
Public Computers - Audio Volume

Please note that the audio volume levels on our public computers are having issues. The estimated time of disruption is unknown at this time. Thank you for your patience.

 

All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Thursday, May 29, 2025 - 4:00pm
Mount Hope Branch Accessibile Ramp Not Available

The accessibility ramp at Mount Hope Branch is damaged. The handrail is not available. The ramp will not be available while being repaired. We aim to fix it quickly.

Published:
Friday, May 23, 2025 - 4:30pm

Beckett Collection

Hamilton Street Railway, 1912
Hamilton Street Railway, 1912

Hubert William Beckett (ca1892-1967) was born in Hamilton. After gaining some renown as an amateur photographer of children, he opened a professional studio in 1925, on James Street South, and was active as a portrait photographer until his deathin 1967 at age 75.

In November of 1972, his collection of negatives and filing cards was delivered to the Hamilton Public Library. This collection consisted of 35.4 metres of photographic negatives, with the corresponding index cards.

In 1977, approximately 14,000 of the negatives were found to be on a cellulose acetate base and therefore highly flammable. These negatives were duplicated and the originals destroyed.

There are approximately 26,000 negatives in the Beckett Collection.

Finding Aid: There is an in-house finding aid to this collection