All branches close on Sunday, December 21, 2025. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on December 25 and 26 for Christmas and Boxing Day. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on Sunday, December 28, 2025. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on Thursday January 1 for New Years Day. This includes branches with Extended Access.
Branch Study Halls are paused Friday, December 19, 2025 through Monday, January 5, 2026. Central Library Study Hall hours resume Spring 2026.
www.hpl.ca/study-halls
Please note that the 905-546-3200 main line is experiencing technical issues today, Monday, December 8. Members can still reach Staff at 289-779-7588 or by email or through chat online. We are working quickly to resolve the issue. Thank you for your patience.
Bring back your borrowed library items (due Oct 1 or later) within 28 days to avoid a replacement or lost fee. We'll remove the fee when you bring back your overdue items.
Black Mount Collection

This is the most used collection in Local History & Archives, as it is indexed in the department's "Where-To-Look." The images are arranged alphabetically by location (Ancaster, Barton, Hamilton, etc.) and then alphabetically by subject heading (Banks, Grocery Stores, Portraits, Schools, Streets, etc). Within each subject heading, they are arranged alphabetically by name, and then within each named unit, chronologically by date.
It is only the broad subject heading or name heading that is indexed in the "Where-To-Look." Other information, such as the names of stores on a King Street photograph, is not indexed.
Some of the photographs were copied by the HPL photographer. In cases where a negative exists, the negative number will be written on the back of the mount on the security label.
The entire Black Mount collections consists of roughly 20,000 images, ranging in date from the 1850's to the present.








