HPL's catalogue is not available Sunday, August 16 from 5:00 am to 10:00 a.m due to system maintenance. Thank you for your patience.
Catalogue Maintenance
Published:
Tuesday, August 11, 2026 - 6:15pm
Construction at Concession Branch
Due to construction at the Concession Branch hours are changing temporarily, beginning Fri Aug 7 to mid-September.
Mon-Thu 5-7pm
Fri Closed
Sat 9am-5pm
Members can change their Holds pickup location in their library accounts or can contact Staff. Or Holds can be paused until after the branch returns to regular open hours.
Some programs will be moved to the Sherwood Branch, 467 Upper Ottawa St. Please check hpl.ca/events for up-to-date program changes.
Published:
Wednesday, August 5, 2026 - 1:15pm
Bookmobile Schedule Modifications
Thu Aug 13
-
The 2:30-3pm Visit to Mohawk Gardens is Cancelled.
-
The 3:30-4pm Visit to the Meadowlands is Cancelled.
Tue Aug 18:
-
The 10:30-11am Visit to the Court at Rushdale is Cancelled
Sat Aug 22:
-
Pride Hamilton (Visit Bookmobile 9:30am-4:30pm at Pier 4 Park - 64 Leander Dr.) - All Visits Cancelled (Stoney Creek Arena 10-11am, Riverdale 11:15am-12:15pm and Discovery Centre 2:30-4pm).
Published:
Tuesday, August 4, 2026 - 9:30am
Kenilworth Branch Accessible Washroom Out of Order
The accessible washroom at Kenilworth Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
Published:
Thursday, July 30, 2026 - 5:45pm
New Loan Periods - Effective Monday, August 31
As of Monday, August 31, new loan periods will come into effect to shorten the wait time for popular hold items.
DVD Express - 3 days
DVDs and Blu-rays - 7 days (fiction, children's and languages)
Magazines - 7 days
Bestseller Express - 14 days
DVDs and Blu-rays - 14 days (non-fiction and TV series)
Books - 21 days
Music/Books on CD and Children's Express - 21 days
Please visit www.hpl.ca/borrowing for more details.
Published:
Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 2:30pm
Study Halls Pause for Summer Break
After Hours Study Hall is not available in July and August. Hours will resume Tuesday, September 8. www.hpl.ca/study-halls
Published:
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 - 3:00pm
Beckett Collection
Hamilton Street Railway, 1912
Hubert William Beckett (ca1892-1967) was born in Hamilton. After gaining some renown as an amateur photographer of children, he opened a professional studio in 1925, on James Street South, and was active as a portrait photographer until his deathin 1967 at age 75.
In November of 1972, his collection of negatives and filing cards was delivered to the Hamilton Public Library. This collection consisted of 35.4 metres of photographic negatives, with the corresponding index cards.
In 1977, approximately 14,000 of the negatives were found to be on a cellulose [acetate] nitrate base and therefore highly flammable. These negatives were duplicated and the originals destroyed.
There are approximately 26,000 negatives in the Beckett Collection.
Finding Aid: There is an in-house finding aid to this collection
