The Medical Officer of Health for the City of Hamilton is issuing a Cold Weather Alert effective overnight tonight, Tuesday, February 3. A Cold Weather Alert is issued when current or anticipated weather conditions are at or below -15C or -20C with wind chill. Please visit www.hamilton.ca/cold for locations and resources to stay warm and safe.
All HPL Branches are Warm Places during our service hours. www.hpl.ca/hours
The Fourth Floor will be closed on Friday, February 6, starting at 2 pm for Seedy Saturday event setup. Makerspace and Newcomer Learning Centre will remain open. Floors 1-3 are available with study and work spaces. www.hpl.ca/central
The accessibility door at Red Hill Branch is not working. We aim to fix it quickly.
Please note the following Bookmobile visit updates.
Tuesday, February 3
Greencedar (4-5 pm) - Cancelled
Thursday, February 5
Rockton (10:30-11:30 am) - Cancelled
Bennetto Visit will be 5-5:30 pm (instead of 4-5:30 pm)
Tuesday, February 10
McMaster University will be 3:30-4 pm (instead of 3:30-4:30 pm
Greencedar will be 5-5:30 pm (instead of 4-5 pm)
Mountview will be 6-6:30 pm (instead of 5:30-6:30 pm)
On Monday, February 9, Homestead Drive will be closed from 7:30am-1:30pm (local traffic only) due to filming. From 1:30-7:30pm, there will be intermittent traffic control by Hamilton Police. The Branch will remain open. Thank you for your patience.
The accessible washroom at Carlisle Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
Starting Monday, February 2, Central Library's daily hours will move back to a 9 am opening instead of 8 am, Monday through Saturday. Please make note of this new service change for your next visit. www.hpl.ca/hours
Effective Sunday, February 1, Sunday service hours at Central Library will be paused.
Sunday Hours will continue at Dundas, Red Hill, Terryberry, Turner Park, Valley Park and Waterdown Branches from 1-5pm.
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.
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.
Discovery cards and Non-Resident cards have limits on the number of items customers can borrow:
Inspire card users can borrow materials and are subject to the same responsibilities as a Discovery card but with reduced borrowing limits:
Community cards have extended borrowing and loan periods.
Reciprocal card holders must have a valid library card from a participating library system.
Most items may be renewed up to three (3) times following initial checkout. Items that are eligible for renewal will be automatically renewed on the due date. Customers with email notification will receive an email informing them of which items have been renewed and which items will be due. There are no renewals permitted on the following items:
Renewal of Interlibrary loan materials is subject to the guidelines of the lending library.
Customers with a valid Hamilton Public Library card may reserve an item that someone else is currently borrowing. This is referred to as placing an item on “hold.” The following circulating items cannot be reserved:
Upon notification that a reserve is available, customers have 7 open days to pick up the item. eBook users have three (3) days (72 hours) to download their hold. Customers can choose to turn on an automatic borrowing feature that checks out the eBook copy as soon as it becomes available.
Borrowed items from the Hamilton Public Library need to be returned to one of its locations. Drop boxes are available for the return of items when the location is closed. If a Hamilton Public Library item is returned to another library system in error, the card holder is responsible for all fines and associated charges. Certain items may need to be returned during open hours.
Borrowing privileges are suspended when customers have overdue materials over the limit threshold. Suspensions only apply to physical borrowing; digital collections and resources remain accessible. See Service Fees Policy [2].
July 2021
