Modified Bookmobile Service - September 15-18

Bookmobile has the following schedule modifications. Thank you for your patience. 

Monday, September 15

  • Mohawk College, 12-1pm - Cancelled

Tuesday, September 16

  • Greencedar, 4-5pm - Cancelled

Wednesday, September 17

  • Helen Detwiler - Changed to 11-11:30am

Thursday, September 18

  • Meadowlands - Changed to 3:30-4pm
  • Bennetto - Changed to 4:45-5:30pm
 
 
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Affected Branch: Bookmobile
Nearest Branches: 
Published:
Friday, September 12, 2025 - 3:00pm
Replacement and Damage Fees Resume October 1st

To avoid a replacement or lost fee, please return library materials due October 1st or later within 28 days. Replacement fees are intended to encourage Members to return items on a timely basis so everyone in the community can enjoy them. 

https://www.hpl.ca/news/frequently-asked-questions

All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 3:00pm
SuperCrawl - Road Closures near Central Library

From Thursday, September 11, until 5 am on Monday, September 15, road closures for SuperCrawl will be in effect in and around James Street North from King to Wilson/York to Cannon to Barton Street. Additional closures will take place on King William, Rebecca, Vine, Mulberry, Colbourne and Murray Streets. If you are planning to visit Central Library over the next few days, we suggest taking HSR for a convenient route to downtown Hamilton. www.hpl.ca/central

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Affected Branch: Central Library
Published:
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - 10:30am
Central Library - Fourth Floor Temporary Closure

Central Library's Fourth Floor is closed on Tuesday, September 16, from Noon to 6 pm due to a special event. Makerspace and Newcomer Learning Centre will remain open. Floors 1-3 are available as study and work spaces. www.hpl.ca/central

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Affected Branch: Central Library
Published:
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - 10:00am
Kenilworth Branch - Temporary Closure (Sept 2 - Oct 10)

Due to roof repair maintenance, the Branch is temporarily closed from September 2 until October 10. Please visit the Red Hill, Parkdale, and Barton locations as your nearest branches for your library needs. On August 28-29, there may be some noise disruptions and limited parking spots while the roof repair set-up begins. Thank you for your patience.

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Published:
Monday, August 11, 2025 - 8:00am

Collections Policy

Selection

Items are selected:

  • to meet the recreational needs and interests of the community
  • to enrich human understanding by celebrating the diversity of our community through inclusion of various cultural, ethnic, religious and philosophical background
  • to educate and support lifelong learning
  • to recognize and accommodate a range of education levels and abilities
  • to inspire a love of reading, learning and creativity
  • to collect and preserve materials which illustrate the growth and development of the City of Hamilton, that celebrate its history and heritage or that pertain in whole or in part to activities within the geographic boundaries of the City of Hamilton

Criteria for Selection of Materials:

  • suitability of physical and/or digital form for library use
  • relation to existing collections and other materials on a subject
  • accessibility of materials in other libraries, for free via the internet, or from other easily and freely accessible resources
  • interests and composition of the community
  • popular and/or anticipated demand and current trends
  • attention of critics, reviewers, and the public
  • quality, clarity, comprehensiveness and accuracy of the work
  • reputation, skill, competence and purpose of the originator of the work
  • special value as a contribution to social questions and problems of continuing or topical interest
  • timeliness or permanence of the work
  • availability of funds and space
  • balance of viewpoints in the collection including those considered extreme or minority

An item need not meet all of the above criteria in order to be acceptable. Items that do not meet these criteria may be purchased to satisfy demand.  The Local History and Archives department will only accept material on a permanent basis, except when borrowing material for short-term loans to reproduce or to include in displays or exhibits.

Request for Removal of Items

The Hamilton Public Library recognizes the right of individuals to express opposition to author or artists’ ideas or to their creative expression in items selected for the library. While people have the right to reject for themselves items of which they do not approve, they do not have the right to restrict the freedom of others. The Hamilton Public Library is a resource where many points of view and modes of expression can be examined without hindrance. No ideas or opinions have universal acceptance and the use of language or visual depiction, either descriptive or expressive, can in itself stimulate controversy.

The Hamilton Public Library complies with any law enacted at the federal, provincial or municipal level, and therefore does not collect or maintain items which have been judged obscene or pornographic, or have been banned by the courts. The relevant sections of the Criminal Code of Canada are: sedition, hate propaganda and obscenity.

The presence of an item in the collection does not indicate an endorsement of its contents by the Hamilton Public Library, but rather is an affirmation of the principle of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Canadian Federation of Library Associations’ Position Statement on Intellectual Freedom and Libraries.

The following will not cause an item to be automatically included or excluded from the collection:

  • race, religion, nationality or political views of an author
  • frankness or coarseness of language
  • controversial content
  • endorsement or disapproval of an individual or group
  • language in which the work is written or spoken

If a customer feels that an item in our collection falls outside the criteria outlined in this policy, they are invited to complete a Resident Request for Reconsideration of Service form.