The accessible washroom at Ancaster Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
Ancaster Branch Accessible Washroom Out of Order
Published:
Friday, January 23, 2026 - 9:00am
Bookmobile Stops Cancelled
The Winona (11am-12pm) and Queen Victoira (3-4pm) Bookmobile stop on January 23 is cancelled. Apologies for this inconvenience.
Published:
Friday, January 23, 2026 - 8:30am
Cold Weather Alert for the City of Hamilton
Cold Weather Alert for the City of Hamilton January 22, 2026.
The temperature is expected to plummet below minus 15 Celsius. For warm place hours visit hpl.ca/hours.
For a list of shelters and health information visit www.hamilton.ca/cold.
Published:
Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 5:00pm
Locke Branch - Filming Nearby
Filming will take place at 86 Homewood Avenue from January 28-30, 7 am-11 pm. Production vehicles and equipment will be located on the north side of Stanley Avenue between Locke Street South and Kent Street. This will impact the availability of side-street parking. Thank you for your patience.
Published:
Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 3:00pm
Central Library - Sunday Hours Paused
Effective Sunday, February 1, Sunday service hours at Central Library will be paused.
Sunday Hours will continue at Dundas, Red Hill, Terryberry, Turner Park, Valley Park and Waterdown Branches from 1-5pm.
Published:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 11:00am
Central Library - Daily Hours Update
Starting Monday, February 2, Central Library's daily hours will move back to a 9 am opening instead of 8 am, Monday through Saturday. Please make note of this new service change for your next visit. www.hpl.ca/hours
Published:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 11:00am
Central Library – Digital Microfilm Machines
The digital microfilm machines at Central Library are not working. A single analog machine is available in the Local History and Archives Reading Room. This reader does not support printing. We apologize for the inconvenience and aim to have the digital devices repaired as soon as possible.
Published:
Monday, January 19, 2026 - 1:45pm
Online Resources - Update
The following eResources have been recently discontinued in our HPL collections: Novelist, Summa, Summa Kids, and Northstar Digital Literacy. Please visit www.hpl.ca/articles/read-watch-listen for our full listing of online resources for your next read, watch, listen and/or learn.
Published:
Wednesday, January 7, 2026 - 11:00am
Printing Updates
Daily print balances for black and white and colour printing change January 2, 2026. The new daily print balance is 40 cents. Members receive four free black and white copies or two free colour copies.
Large format and vinyl printing pricing also change on January 2. Visit https://www.hpl.ca/makerspaces for updates.
Published:
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 2:00pm
Replacement and Damage Fees
Bring back your borrowed library items within 28 days to avoid a replacement or lost fee. We'll remove the fee when you bring back your overdue items.
Published:
Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 3:00pm
Parks Police
Hamilton Parks Police
In the early 1940's, vandalism and other occurrences began to increase in frequency in Hamilton's parks. A man by the name of Fred Marshal, one of Hamilton's parks superintendents, was worried about these incidents. In 1943, Mr. Marshall decided to hire George James, the first Parks Policeman, and also the first man hired in this type of position to have only one arm, to patrol Gage Park and help solve the problem. Almost overnight, Gage Park became a safe place for women and children. Before his first season was over, George had so won the respect of the children of the fast developing district that he had a thousand or more young assistants to tip him off when trouble started brewing. So pleased was Fred Marshall as the experiment progressed that he encouraged Mr. James to expand his efforts. As the years rolled by, George managed to recruit men to patrol other parks in the city. These men shared his views and his dedication to park discipline. They were moulded into a specially-trained force, willing and able to perform their duties of constant vigilance. They were a select and loyal crew. Little misdemeanours which could grow into major crimes were nipped in the bud. Crime was not given a place to start.
The creation of a Hamilton parks police force had reduced destruction in Hamilton parks to negligible proportions. The idea behind a parks police force was to get on speaking terms with all children in the various parks, and if they did something wrong, to get them on a minor offence so that they wouldn't have the opportunity to commit a more serious crime. The men patrolled the park at irregular hours. They were special constables with all the powers of regular policemen.
Policing the parks meant a 14-hour day which included detaining prowlers, drunkards, and other offenders until the city police could reach the scene and take over. Besides dealing with instances of damage to parks property, first aid cases, prowlers, and investigation, the police were subject to calls at home, before their regular duty started at 2 p.m. An 8-hour day was no longer possible, and they had neither Sundays, Saturdays, nor holidays as time off. Hamilton had an excellent parks police force - one which was the envy of many other communities in the country.
