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.
The accessibility door at Waterdown Branch is not working. We aim to fix it quickly.
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.
Peer Support Workers Help Struggling Members at Central Library
HAMILTON – Wed Jan 22, 2025 - Hamilton Public Library (HPL) recently welcomed four new Peer Support Workers, Misty Thaler, Mike Lavelle, Paul Dolhun and Harrison Wheeler to Central Library.
The workers from Canadian Mental Health Association Hamilton (CMHA) began their work of helping Members with mental illness and addiction struggles on Jan 13.
Misty, Mike, Paul and Harrison will support Members in many ways, including counselling, helping them connect with local financial, housing and food resources and completing referral forms as needed.
The Peer Support program is a one-year pilot. Getting to this launch date took a year. Throughout the year, HPL and CMHA will measure the success of this partnership through testimony and data to determine potential expansion.
Peer support is an evidence-based, essential core service for addressing the complex needs of people with mental health and addictions concerns in community spaces like libraries.
“This partnership is an example of how HPL is working with partners to support residents in our spaces, while we focus on providing public library service. A special thank you to Dr. James Gillet from McMaster University and his team. Our research partnerships with them resulted in facilitating this shared effort between HPL and CMHA Hamilton,” said HPL CEO Paul Takala.
“CMHA Peer Support Workers leverage their lived experience, deep empathy and expertise in navigating Hamilton’s health and social services and will provide easily accessible support to people in need at Central Library,” said CMHA Hamilton CEO Sue Phipps.
HPL and CMHA are grateful to McMaster University’s Community Research Platform for facilitating the partnership and their evaluation of this innovative collaboration.







