Study Hall on Thursday, May 21, is cancelled due to plumbing maintenance. Study Hall will resume on Monday, May 25. Thank you for your patience.
All HPL Branches are closed on Friday May 29, for Staff Professional Development. Bookmobile is off the road and Extended Access service is not available. Regular service hours resume on Saturday May 30.
Visit our Virtual Branch at hpl.ca for our online resources and collections.
The accessible washroom at Greensville Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
Renovations are currently underway for the 2nd Floor Central Children's Area. Programs are still being offered as scheduled and there is a temporary pop-up Children’s Area on the northeast side of the 2nd Floor (near the Piano Room), including access to collections and train tables. Construction is expected to be completed by late Spring. Thank you for your patience.
As of Monday, March 2, Sherwood Branch's 2nd Floor is closed due to renovations. Makerspace, Children and Teen's collection are temporarily available on the 1st Floor. All programs will be held in the basement program room. Renovations are expected to be completed in late Spring. Thank you for your patience.
City Directories
City directories were created for salesmen, merchants, and others interested in contacting residents of an area and are a valuable research tool to trace individuals, families and businesses. Directories were published annually and provide an alphabetical listing of the adult residents, with their occupation and address, as well as an alphabetical listing of streets, with the occupant at each house number. The directories also include listings of businesses, institutions, churches, schools, social organizations, and municipal services.
The Hamilton Public Library’s collection of City Directories cover the City of Hamilton Directory from 1853 to 2013. Suburban directories are also available for Ancaster, Burlington, Dundas, Stoney Creek and Waterdown from 1957 to 2013. Earlier Hamilton directories include suburban areas and smaller townships and villages; please see the guide for townships and villages.
Hamilton Public Library is currently digitizing all of the Hamilton City Directories in its collection. To access fully searchable and downloadable digital copies, visit the Local History & Archives site on Internet Archive.
Copies of the city directories are also available on microfilm in the Local History & Archives Department which is located on the 3rd floor of the Central Library. Please contact Local History & Archives for more information.








