Barton Branch Accessible Washroom Out of Order

The accessible washroom at Barton Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.

Published:
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 - 5:00pm
Central Library: Non-Partner Survey

Starting Monday, April 27 until May 4, non-partner community organizations are encouraged to participate in a short survey. HPL would like to learn how the Library Card Access Pilot Project and the toxic drug crisis in general affect non-partner organizations. Please note that the survey is not anonymous. Start now at www.hpl.ca/non-partner-survey.

Published:
Monday, April 27, 2026 - 9:30am
Software Maintenance - Victoria Day, Monday, May 18

Due to software maintenance, HPL library's catalogue, online services and library accounts will not be available between 9am and 7pm on Monday, May 18. Thank you for your patience.

Published:
Friday, April 24, 2026 - 9:00am
Central Library - Fire Drill, Tuesday, May 5, 11am

Due to Staff training, Central Library will close from 11am to Noon on Tuesday, May 5. You may visit Locke and Barton Branches as the next nearest locations for your library needs. Thank you for your patience.

Published:
Thursday, April 23, 2026 - 9:00am
Concession Branch - Renovations Underway

Renovations are expected to be completed by May 7. Construction repairs and noise may impact your next visit. Thank you for your understanding.

Published:
Monday, April 13, 2026 - 1:15pm
Mount Hope Branch - Delayed Opening, Monday, May 4

Due to Staff training, Mount Hope Branch will have a delayed opening of 2 pm on Monday, May 4. You may visit Turner Park Branch as the next nearest location for your library needs. Thank you for your patience.

Published:
Friday, March 27, 2026 - 8:00am
Central Library: Children's Area Renovation on 2nd Floor

Renovations are currently underway for the 2nd floor Central Children's Area. Programs are still being offered as scheduled and there is a temporary pop-up Children’s Area on the northeast side of the 2nd floor (near the Piano Room), including access to collections and train tables. Construction is expected to be completed by late Spring. Thank you for your patience during this time.

Published:
Monday, March 23, 2026 - 9:00am
Sherwood Branch: Renovations

As of Monday, March 2, Sherwood Branch's 2nd floor is closed due to renovations. Makerspace, Children and Teen's collection are temporarily available on the 1st floor. All programs will be held in the basement program room. Renovations are expected to be completed in late Spring. Thank you for your patience.

Published:
Tuesday, February 10, 2026 - 1:00pm

Use of Images

Last council meeting in old City Hall, 1960
Last council meeting in old City Hall, 1960

Terms of Use

Local History and Archives' collection includes images both in the public domain and with active copyright ownership. Digital reproductions are created by Hamilton Public Library and Hamilton Public Library owns the copyright for these digital images. Images that are still in copyright must be licensed from the copyright holder.

All images are covered under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Canada License.

Images can be used for personal or research use without prior permission. Any other use, including, but not limited to, commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication, or transmission whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission from the Hamilton Public Library is prohibited.

The Library will grant or withhold permission on a case by case basis. Permission requests may be sent to Local History and Archives. Click here for information on purchasing a high-resolution image or sending a permission request. 

The city of Hamilton's cybersecurity-related outage has affected some of HPL's services. Our online image database, PreView, is unavailable, and we are not able to provide a timeline for its return.

Some images, such as postcards, can still be found online on Flickr.