Cold Weather Alert for the City of Hamilton Monday January 19, 2026.
The temperature is expected to plummet below minus 15 Celsius. For warm place hours visit hpl.ca/hours.
For a list of shelters and health information visit www.hamilton.ca/cold.
Cold Weather Alert for the City of Hamilton Monday January 19, 2026.
The temperature is expected to plummet below minus 15 Celsius. For warm place hours visit hpl.ca/hours.
For a list of shelters and health information visit www.hamilton.ca/cold.
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.
The accessibility door at Waterdown Branch is not working. We aim to fix it quickly.
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.

The following is an outline of the member's responsibilities in partnering with staff to preserve the Local History and Archives (LHA) collection.
The LHA Reading Room is designated as a quiet study area. Seating priority will be given to individuals using material from the collections of LHA. We ask that you please conduct phone or group conversations outside of the room. Staff will be happy to direct you to an appropriate area.
Researchers are reminded that they are working with historical records, which are unique and often fragile. Please adhere to the following requirements while handling this material:
A maximum of six containers or volumes will be supplied at one time
Please do not remove any materials from the Reading Room
Please consult with a staff member prior to photocopying documents
Disable flash functionality on your digital camera prior to taking photographs
For preservation reasons, the use of digital scanners is prohibited
With the exception of bottled water in a covered container, eating and drinking are not permitted in the Reading Room; this includes chewing gum and candy.
No marks of any kind are to be made on any of the material. Please use pencils to take notes.
Please avoid placing notepads on top of materials or leaning directly on archival records. Tracing maps or other records, or the use of “post-it” or other self-sticking notes, staples or paper clips on archival records is not permitted.
Please leave archival records flat on the table surface as much as possible. Avoid letting records overhang past the table's edge.
Please handle records carefully and deliberately with both hands to ensure the safety of the record. We advise moving the records by sliding them from one pile to another.
Please use the white cotton gloves provided when handling non-textual materials.
It is imperative that the order of the archival records you are using remains intact. Please do not change the order of the files within a container, or items within a file.
Please consult with LHA staff if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for using the Hamilton Public Library.