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.
Due to limited Staffing, Lynden Branch will be open today from 1-6pm with Extended Access services only. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Bookmobile is off the road from December 25-27, December 31, and January 1st. Visit www.hpl.ca/bookmobile for our Holiday Schedule.
Due to the setup for the Noon Hour Concert, the Fourth Floor at Central Library will be closed on Friday, January 2. Makerspace and Newcomer Learning Centre will remain open. Floors 1-3 have spaces to work and study.
All branches close on Thursday, December 25, for Christmas. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on Sunday, December 28, 2025. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on Thursday January 1 for New Years Day. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on Friday, December 26, 2025 for Boxing Day . This includes branches with Extended Access.
All HPL Branches close early on Wednesday, December 24 at 1pm. All locations are also closed on Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25, and Boxing Day, Friday, December 26. Visit www.hpl.ca/hours for our Holiday Schedule.
All HPL Branches close early on Wednesday, December 31 at 1pm. All locations are also closed on New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1st. Regular service hours resume on Friday, January 2. www.hpl.ca/hours
Branch Study Halls are paused Friday, December 19, 2025 through Monday, January 5, 2026. Central Library Study Hall hours resume Spring 2026.
www.hpl.ca/study-halls
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.
Persons with a disability may provide their own assistive device for the purpose of obtaining or using library services and may have free access to assistive devices available in the Library designed to help a person with a disability to carry out activities or to gain access to library services.
Exceptions may occur in situations where the Library has determined that the assistive device may pose a risk to the health and safety of the person with a disability or to the health and safety of others on Library premises. In these situations, the Library may offer a person with a disability other reasonable measures to assist them in obtaining and using library services, where the Library has such other measures available. It is the responsibility of the person with a disability to ensure that their assistive device is operated in a safe and controlled manner at all times.
Persons entering Library facilities may be accompanied by a service animal. If it is not readily apparent that the animal is a service animal, Library employees may ask if an animal is a service animal and whether documentation of the animal’s status is available. If documentation is not immediately available, the person and the animal, normally, will be allowed access to the Library for the current visit and asked to bring documentation for future visits.
Service animals are generally dogs but do include other animals. It is the responsibility of the person with a disability to ensure that their service animal is always kept under control.
A person with a disability, who uses a service animal, cannot be denied access or refused service because others have allergies or express a fear of the service animal. All efforts must be made to respectfully accommodate both individuals. Options could include creating a distance between the two individuals, eliminating in-person contact, changing the time the two receive service, using air purifiers, or any other measures that would allow the person to use their service animal on the premises
Emotional Support Animals provide comfort and security. However, they generally do not have training for specific tasks. Therefore, emotional support animals do not qualify as service animals under the AODA. Service providers are not required to allow emotional support animals on their premises. However, if the support animal remains within the person's control and does not pose a health and safety risk, the person and their support animal may be allowed access to the Library.
Currently, no law in Canada requires an individual to register or obtain certification for their emotional support animal. However, in some cases, a person may have a letter that is completed by a licensed mental health professional.
Persons with a disability may enter Library premises with a support person to assist with communication, mobility or medical needs or with access to Library Services and may have access to the support person while on the premises.
A support person, when assisting a person with a disability to obtain or use Library services, will be permitted to attend at no charge where an admission fee is applicable. Persons with disabilities may provide their library card or its duplicate fob to a support person for use by the support person on their behalf.
The Library may require a person with a disability to be accompanied by a support person when on the premises. Before making a decision to require a support person, the Library will consult with the person with a disability to understand their needs, consider health or safety reasons based on available evidence and determine if there is any other reasonable way to protect the health or safety of the person or others on the premises.
The Library will provide access to or arrange for access to accessible materials where they exist and will provide library publicity and reports in alternate formats upon request. The Library complies with the Clear, Accessible and Large Print Guidelines developed by the City of Hamilton in conjunction with the City of Hamilton Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities. The Library will work to ensure the website and web content is accessible according to the appropriate Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.
