The following locations have upcoming delayed openings due to Staff training drills.
Monday, October 20
Ancaster Branch, 10 am
Tuesday, October 21
Central Library, 10 am
Sherwood Branch, 10 am
Thursday, October 23
Locke Branch, 10am
Thursday, October 30
Parkdale Branch, 9:30am
You may visit nearby Branches for your library needs. www.hpl.ca/hours
Interlibrary Loan (ILLO) service will be temporarily paused starting Friday, September 26, due to continued negotiations between CUPW and Canada Post. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Bring back your borrowed library items (due Oct 1 or later) within 28 days to avoid a replacement or lost fee. We'll remove the fee when you bring back your overdue items.
Due to roof repair maintenance, the Branch is temporarily closed from September 2 until October 20. Please visit the Red Hill, Parkdale, and Barton locations as your nearest branches for your library needs. Thank you for your patience.
To ensure that physical and electronic records created or received by Hamilton Public Library (HPL) while carrying out library business are managed appropriately throughout the records’ life cycle to facilitate operational and legislative requirements.
This policy applies to physical and electronic records that are created or received by the Library Board, employees or volunteers of HPL, including records received from external sources, in the course of carrying out library business.
This policy does not apply to digital or physical materials acquired for public collections, or to historical and archival items acquired for the Local History and Archives collections
Records will be managed to ensure they are available, accessible, and maintained to support operations and to meet legislative requirements.
Records (permanent, archival, official, and transitory) will be retained, preserved, protected, secured and disposed of appropriately.
The CEO/ Chief Librarian and the Directors are accountable and responsible for the administration of, and compliance with, the Records Management Program.
Archival Record: Records determined to have historical and cultural value to the library to warrant continuous preservation. These records are transferred to Local History and Archives at the end of their retention periods.
Disposition: The final action carried out on a record after its retention period has ended. This may include retaining, archiving, or destroying the record.
Life Cycle: The entire lifespan of a record, including its creation or receipt, use, maintenance, retention, and disposition.
Permanent Record: Records determined to have historical, administrative, legal, or other value to the library to warrant continuous preservation.
Record: Information in any format or medium, created, received, and maintained as evidence in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business. This may include paper and electronic records, minutes, correspondence, financial statements, maps, drawings, photographs, etc.
Records Management: The practice of managing records in an efficient and systematic manner throughout its life cycle.
Record Series: A group of identical or related records that are normally used and filed as a unit and that permit evaluation as a unit for retention scheduling purposes.
Retention Period: The period of time during which records must be kept before disposition. The retention period is often broken into active and inactive stages and determined by legislative, regulatory, and operational requirements.
Retention Schedule: A timetable that identifies record series and the length of time they must be retained and their final disposition.
Transitory Records: Records are kept or referenced for a short duration and are not required to meet legislative obligations or to sustain administrative or operational functions.
All records created by Hamilton Public Library or in the organization’s custody are the property of the library and are managed as a corporate resource, regardless of medium or format.
Limited collection: Where there is no legislative requirement to retain records or there is no compelling business reason to do so, HPL will limit its collection of information and what is contained in records.
Hamilton Public Library will ensure that all records created by the library or in its custody are:
Available, accessible and maintained to support management and strategic decision-making and to meet operational and legislative requirements;
Secured and properly protected against damage or unauthorized access;
Retained and not destroyed before the defined retention periods;
Disposed of in accordance with established retention schedules; and destroyed in a secure manner that considers confidentiality requirements.
Scope
This policy applies to the life cycle of all records in all formats, digital or physical, and will be applied consistently across all media.
This policy applies to all records created and/or used by the Board, employees of the Library and volunteers. It also applies to records from external sources such as other governmental bodies, businesses and the public when such records are maintained by the Library as a part of its administrative and operational functions.
This policy does not apply to items in the Library’s digital or physical materials collections acquired solely for use by the public.
This policy does not apply to historical and archival materials or items acquired by the Library as part of its Local History and Archives collections.
Accountability- Roles and Responsibilities
The CEO/Chief Librarian is responsible for ensuring that records management requirements are met and reflect the library's policies and priorities.
The Director, Digital Technology and Creation, oversees the general administration of the digital record management, including implementing systems that ensure the security, accuracy, and integrity of records.
Directors and Managers ensure compliance and administration of their respective records series as defined in the retention schedule.
Employees, including volunteers, shall create and manage records in accordance with this Policy, the retention schedule, and any applicable policies, procedures, or standards.
Protection of Records
Records that are private, confidential, privileged, or essential to business continuity and disaster recovery will be identified and protected with appropriate security measures. All electronic records are stored securely on servers managed under HPL’s infrastructure.
Retention and Disposition of Records
In its retention schedule, the Hamilton Public Library identifies and maintains records according to legal, regulatory, contractual, fiscal, historical, and business requirements.
Records that have reached the end of their retention period and are no longer needed for another valid reason will not be retained and will be destroyed in a secure and confidential manner in accordance with established procedures.
Transitory records, unless they have become necessary for legal or administrative purposes, will not be retained and will be destroyed.
Records that are classified as permanent or archival records have long-term value to the library, as such, they will be preserved and protected to ensure their safety, availability, and recovery in accordance with their disposition in the retention schedule.
Records will not be retained beyond their retention period without a valid reason unless authorized by the Chief Librarian/CEO or designate.
Official Records
Only one official record, either physical or digital, will be maintained to meet retention requirements.
If an original physical record is not legally required or classified as permanent, the digital copy becomes the official record. The physical version is then transitory and must be securely disposed of.
Exceptions: Duplicate records listed in the retention schedule (e.g., supporting documents or records submitted to external entities like the City of Hamilton) are not transitory and must be retained per the schedule
Legislation
This policy, procedures and retention schedule will comply with legislated requirements and professional standards, including, but not limited to:
Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
Ontario Municipal Act
Public Libraries Act
Employment Standards Act
Occupational Health and Safety Act
Income Tax Act
Related Documents
Privacy Policy for Library Members
September 2025
