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.
Cold Weather Alert for the City of Hamilton
Published:
Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 5:00pm
Parkdale Branch Accessible Washroom Out of Order
The accessible washroom at Parkdale Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
Published:
Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 3:30pm
Microsoft Service Outage affecting email delivery
Microsoft is currently experiencing an outage in the Office 365 services. This is causing some emails from @hpl.ca addresses to fail to be delivered. We appologize for the inconvenience.
Published:
Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 3:30pm
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
Bookmobile Stops Cancelled
The Rockton Bookmobile visit (10:30-11:30am) today, Thursday, January 22 is cancelled. Service is expected to resume next week.
Published:
Thursday, January 22, 2026 - 9:00am
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
Vital Statistics for Ontario
Baptism at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Indexes are available on microfilm in Local History & Archives and to borrow from the Archives of Ontario.
The full registration record is available only on loan from the Archives of Ontario or by visiting the Archives of Ontario in Toronto.
The indexes for the following years have been released and are held by the department:
- Births 1869 to 1915
- Marriages [ca.1801] to 1931
- Deaths 1869 to 1941 plus deaths of Ontarians overseas, 1939-1946
Later indexes and complete transcriptions are not available in the department but all currently available can be accessed through Ancestry.ca
Vital Statistics
Local History & Archives does have some original Vital Statistics:
Barton Township
1896 to 1924
microfilms 355 & 356
Beverly Township
1871 to 1948
microfilms 296, 297, 298 & 357
Glanford Township
Archives File - Glanford Township
Volume 1, 1869 to 1877
Volume 2, 1879 to 1897
Volume 3, 1898 to 1903
Archives File - Glanford Township
Index of names that appear in Glanford Township birth, marriage and death records
Waterdown
Archives File - Waterdown
Volume 1, 1880 to 1894 (incomplete)
West Flamborough Township
Archives File - Flamborough, West Township
Birth & Death Certificates
1873 to 1875
Birth Records pre-1869
Before 1869 there are two main sources of birth records: newspaper announcements and church baptismal records.
Some of these records are available in Local History & Archives:
Ancaster Township
Ontario Historical Society
Papers & Records
971.3 ONT
Volume 5, pages 102 to 177
1830 to 1838 – Anglican
Dundas
Dundas Warder & County of Halton General Advertiser
929.3713 DUN
1847 to 1857
Gore District
Ontario Historical Society
Papers & Records
971.3 ONT
Volume 5, pages 92 to 96
1816-1824
Hamilton
Check our Where-to-Look in the department under the name of the person to see if there is a biographical file in the collection. This may include birth, death and/or marriage announcements.
Gordon Allison Collection
Transcriptions of deaths, marriages and births published in the Hamilton Spectator from 1846 to 1899
[missing July 1876 to October 1877]
Hamilton Evening Times
February 17, 1859 to December 30, 1869
Newspapers of the Western Gore
1831 to 1859
Gore Gazette
March 2, 1827 to June 8, 1829
Hamilton Express & Free Press, 1836
Hamilton Journal & Gore District Mercantile & Agricultural Intelligencer, 1839
Hamilton Express & Political & Commercial Journal, 1839
Journal & Express, 1841 to 1853
Birth, Marriage & Death Records
929.3 OGS
November 1854 to July 1857
Central Presbyterian Church
Baptismal Registers
Microfilm 539
1842 to 1877
1877 to 1954
