The accessibility ramp at Mount Hope Branch is damaged. The handrail is not available. The ramp will not be available while being repaired. We aim to fix it quickly.
HPL's catalogue is not available from 5-10am on Sunday May 25 due to system maintenance. Thank you for your patience.
The Stoney Creek Arena and Millgrove Bookmobile visits on Saturday May 24 are cancelled. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Extended Access at the Freelton Branch is not working. Please visit during staffed hours. We aim to fix it quickly. Apologies for the inconvenience.
The Sherwood Branch has following service limitations due to construction:
- 1st Floor closed to the public
- 2nd Floor collections (teen, children, and graphic novels) available
- 2nd Floor: Limited browsing of Express Adult Fic and Express DVDs
- Holds pickup on the 2nd Floor
- Reduced number of public computers on 2nd Floor
- Printing and copying available on 2nd Floor
- Seating is reduced
- Parking, washroom and elevator access available
Please refer to hpl.ca/events for up-to-date program listings. Most programs will continue as normal on the 2nd Floor or in the basement.
All HPL Branches are closed on Friday May 30 for Staff Development. Bookmobile is off the road and Extended Access is not available. HPL's online card registration, catalogue and eResources are not available until 5pm due to scheduled maintenance. All branches reopen Saturday May 31.
Due to the ongoing roof repair project, noise and parking disruptions are expected to continue until the end of June. Thank you for your patience.
Until Saturday May 31, the Ancaster Branch is temporarily relocated to the Ancaster Rotary Centre, 385 Jerseyville Road West, Ancaster. The Wilson Street branch is closed for a roof and HVAC replacement and is expected to reopen on Monday June 2 at 9:30am.
The digital microfilm machines at Central Library are not working. A single analog machine is available, but it doesn't print. We aim to have the digital devices repaired as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Please be aware of online phishing attempts impersonating Hamilton Public Library and Library Staff. HPL does not solicit paid freelance opportunities through social media or other messaging applications. HPL does not request personal or banking information through social media or require financial compensation when reviewing job applications. Please report phishing schemes to communications@hpl.ca. If you think you are a victim of fraud, please call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
Greetings from Hamilton
Tourism in Hamilton
Tourists, as anyone who has ever been one can tell you, are either the life's blood or the bane of any region's existence. That much, at least, has not changed through the years, although I doubt that any Chamber of Commerce would condone such pessimism. One of the only differences one can notice between the tourists of long ago and of today is a lack of Bermuda shorts, Hawaiian shirts and Kodak cameras.
"The intensity of the cold ... has seldom been equalled ..."
Now as anyone who has ever travelled knows, one of the first things to be considered is the climate of the destination. Thomas Rolph, writing in 1841, waxed poetic over the winters, despite their length and severity. Hardly a lure for the people he is trying to persuade to come here.
"On the 19th of November, the country was for the first time this season, covered with snow, a clothing which has continued, as the ancient historians would say, 'even unto this day.' The intensity of the cold for more than four months has seldom been equalled, even in the recollection of the oldest settlers; the thermometer during that period being frequently 30 below zero. The injurious effects which must have been produced by it, have been completely counteracted by the deep snow which fell and was renewed at intervals throughout the winter, until its depth, in many places, was the cause of anticipated alarm of floods, with all their terrors, when the thaw would come."
The weather is not the only hazard noticed by tourists. The Reverend Henry Christmas noted, in 1849, that the streets were dangerous to walk on:
"The sidewalks and some of the streets are planted, as in Toronto , but not being hitherto provided with gas, as that city is, and deep drains moreover being cut on each side of the path in many places, walking about at night is really somewhat dangerous, unless you are provided with a lantern. Gradually, however, there can be no doubt that this crying evil will be mended, and the streets rendered as safe as they are in Toronto ."
He also noted another hazard when he ran into a band of Indians bringing venison to the city to sell.
"The venison, however, did not look well, it was not being "broken" after the approved art of "venerie", but hacked about in a manner that would doubtless have been highly unsatisfactory to Mr. Scrope; the heads, instead of being left on with the noble antlers, being roughly hewn off in a manner that gave some of the carcasses an uncomfortable semblance to that of a decapitated dog."