The Kenilworth Branch 2nd floor will be closed on Wednesday, May 13 from 9 to 10am due to maintenance. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Kenilworth Branch Floor Closed
Published:
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 - 6:00pm
Catalogue Maintenance
HPL's Catalogue will undergo maintenance on Wednesday, May 13 from 12:30am to 4:30 am. There may be intermittent downtime during this maintenance window. Thank you for your patience.
Published:
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 - 2:00pm
Greensville Branch Accessible Washroom Out of Order
The accessible washroom at Greensville Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
Published:
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 - 10:15am
All Branches Closed - Sunday, May 17
All HPL Branches are closed on Sunday, May 17. Bookmobile is off the road. Extended Access service is not available.
Regular service hours resume on Tuesday, May 19. Visit hpl.ca for our Virtual Branch.
Published:
Monday, May 11, 2026 - 10:15am
All Branches Closed - Victoria Day, Monday, May 18
All HPL Branches are closed on Monday, May 18. Bookmobile is off the road. Extended Access and Study Hall services are not available. Regular service hours resume on Tuesday, May 19.
Published:
Monday, May 11, 2026 - 10:15am
Bookmobile Service Modification
Due to Driver availability, Bookmobile has the following schedule modifications for the month of May. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Tuesday, May 12:
- Greencedar - Cancelled
- Mountview - Cancelled
Wednesday, May 13:
- Swansea - Cancelled
- Helen Detwiler - Cancelled
- Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum - Cancelled
Thursday, May 14:
- Rockton - Cancelled
- Mohawk Gardens - Cancelled
- Meadowlands - Cancelled
Monday, May 18: All Bookmobile sites closed
Published:
Monday, May 4, 2026 - 12:00pm
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: 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
Desjardins Canal Disaster
On March 12, 1857, the 6:15 Great Western Railway train from Toronto crashed through the railway bridge spanning the Desjardins Canal. The accident left fifty-nine people dead and made international headlines. The following article appeared in the April 4, 1857 issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.
THE CALAMITOUS RAILROAD ACCIDENT AT BURLINGTON HEIGHTS
OVER THE DES JARDINES CANAL, CANADA.
---------------------------
Scenes at the Place of the Disaster!
The Bodies Found!
Recognizing the Dead!
Appearances of the Remains of the Bridge and Cars.
The Bridge and its Construction.
The Last Melancholy Scene at the Bridge.
&c., &c., &c.,
The conductors of the railway raising the ruins of the cars. From a sketch by Mr. Lum. (Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 4 April 1857: 273.)
The railway train from Toronto (Canada West) was due at Hamilton at a quarter past six o'clock P.M., Thursday, March the 12th. It came on from Toronto as usual, and was proceeding at a moderate speed to cross the trestle or swinging bridge of the Des Jardines canal. The chasm, sixty feet deep, over which this bridge was erected, was made by cutting an outlet for the canal through Burlington heights. At the time of the accident the water was covered with ice about two feet thick. The moment the train reached the bridge the immense weight crushed through the timbers, and the whole structure gave way, and, with one frightful crash, the engine, tender, baggage car and two first-class passenger cars broke through the severed frame-work, and leaped headlong into the yawning abyss below. The engine and tender crushed at once through the ice. The baggage car, striking the corner of the tender in the act of falling, was thrown to one side and fell some ten yards from the engine. The first passenger car rushed after, and turning as it descended, fell on its roof, breaking partly through the ice, and being crushed to atoms, while the last car fell endways on the ice, and, strange to say, remained in that position.
