Self-Serve Access is not available tonight, Thursday, August 7, from 6 pm-8 pm. We apologize for the inconvenience.
The Meadowlands stop will be cancelled today due to a scheduling issue. Bennetto will arrive to the stop at 4:30-5:30 today. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Printing and photocopying are not working at Dundas Branch. We're working to get these working again as soon as possible.
Filming will take place near the Locke Branch from August 4 to 8, which will impact traffic flow and parking. We apologize for the inconvenience.
- East and West Side of Locke Street South
- North and South Side of Herkimer Street
- North and South Side of Stanley Avenue
The parking lot elevator at Terryberry Branch is not working. Members will need to use the accessible ramp at the Mohawk entrance and the inner elevator. We're working to get it fixed quickly.
Please note that the audio volume levels on our public computers are having issues. The estimated time of disruption is unknown at this time. Thank you for your patience.
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.
Hamilton Spectator Collection

In 1978, the Executive Editor of the Spectator newspaper arranged to begin transferring their reference files of photographic negatives and news clippings to Local History & Archives [then Special Collections]. The arrangement was that the Spectator would only hold the most recent five years worth of negatives and all negatives older than that would be transferred.
Over the years other material has been transferred including:
Hamilton Spectator Daily Negatives
The negatives taken by staff photographers for the daily edition of the newspaper. They are filed chronologically by the date the photograph appeared in the newspaper. There is no master index; therefore, to find the image required, you must know the day the photograph appeared in the newspaper. Many of these daily negatives have been printed and added to the mounted photograph collection by subject.
These files start in 1955 and continue until 1998 with gaps.
"S" Files
These are special negatives which were removed from the daily files because of special interest or subject matter, and filed separately by title (ie. Football, Politics, People, etc.) or date range.
Murdoch Collection Listing
From November 4, 1950 until August 28, 1965, Bruce Murdoch (ca1893-1966), a Spectator photographer, wrote and illustrated a weekly series of articles about small towns in Ontario. There is a complete index of this part of the collection.
Spectator Collection Antiquarian Photographs
40 antiquarian photographs (most late 19th and early 20th century) of Hamilton and area. All have been copied and added to the mounted picture collection.
Finding Aid: R019 HOU CESH