Central Library: Main Elevator Out of Order
One of the main elevators at Central Library is currently out of order. Estimated time of disruption is unknown. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Library Services Update
HPL is recovering from the City of Hamilton's cybersecurity-related incident, which began Sunday February 25 and continues today. Learn more.
- Public computers are available at all branches. JAWS (Job Access With Speech) computers are not available.
- Printing is available at all branches.
- Photocopying and scanning is available at all branches except at Westdale & Concession.
- Public Wi-Fi is available at all branches.
- Makerspace services are available at select locations.
Contact Library Staff at 289-779-7588, hpl.ca or askus@hpl.ca. Check hpl.ca/events for programs and hpl.ca/hours for open hours.
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