The accessible washroom at Carlisle Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
The Fourth Floor is closed all day on Friday, January 30, for Hamilton's Black History Month Launch special event. Makerspace and Newcomer Learning Centre will remain open. Floors 1-3 are available for study and work. www.hpl.ca/central
The accessible washroom at Ancaster Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Maps
These plans are valuable maps for building research. They are large scale maps that show shape, size and exact location of individual buildings. They provide detail about the construction materials, outbuildings and neighbourhoods.
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Canadiana Collection
The Canadiana collection includes books about Canada, written by Canadians, published by Canadians, or having something to do with the history of Canada.
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Research Your House
Research your house with our wealth of resources useful in historical building research.
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Genealogy: Research Your Family
Local History & Archives has many resources to help you research your family history.
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History of the Local History & Archives Department
A brief history of the LH&A Department of Hamilton Public Library
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Government Documents Collection
Access more than 70,000 free Canadian Government publications, digitized by Internet Archive Canada.
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Tax Assessment Records
Tax assessment records can help in accurate dating of the construction of the building as well as disclosing the original owner and a list of occupants.
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Historical Records of the City of Hamilton
Historical records for the City of Hamilton
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City Directories
City Directories show an alphabetical listing of street addresses which can be cross-referenced with an alphabetical listing of surnames.
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Local History and Archives on Historypin
Historypin is an image-mapping project using archival photographs
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Rare and Unusual
There are many rare and wonderful treasures in Local History and Archives.
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The "Where-to-Look" Index
This amazing resource is an up-to-date source for finding information about Hamilton in Local History and Archives
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Local History and Archives Rules of Use
Local History and Archives Rules of Use: an outline of member's responsibilities in partnering with staff to preserve the Local History and Archives collection
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Where is LHA?
Visit Local History and Archives at Central Branch, 3rd floor.
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Parks Police
In the early 1940's, vandalism and other occurrences began to increase in frequency in the parks. Fred Marshal, one of Hamilton's parks superintendents, worked to reverse this trend.








