The Medical Officer of Health for the City of Hamilton is issuing a Cold Weather Alert effective tonight, Friday, February 6. A Cold Weather Alert is issued when current or anticipated weather conditions are at or below minus 15 degrees Celsius or minus 20 with wind chill. This alert will remain in effect until a cancellation notice is issued. Please visit www.hamilton.ca/cold for locations and resources to stay warm and safe.
Cold Alert - Warming Places
Published:
Friday, February 6, 2026 - 2:45pm
Central Library - Living Room Renovation Preparation
Starting Tuesday, February 10, the First Floor Living Room will be unavailable due to renovation preparations. Study and work spaces are available on Floors 2-3.
Please note the Noon Hour Concert on Friday, February 13, will be held at Terryberry Branch instead.
Thank you for your patience.
Published:
Friday, February 6, 2026 - 9:00am
Central Library - Fourth Floor Closure
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
Published:
Tuesday, February 3, 2026 - 3:00pm
Red Hill Branch Accessible Door Out of Order
The accessibility door at Red Hill Branch is not working. We aim to fix it quickly.
Published:
Tuesday, February 3, 2026 - 1:30pm
Bookmobile Service Modification
Please note the following Bookmobile visit updates.
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)
Published:
Monday, February 2, 2026 - 3:15pm
Mount Hope - Filming
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.
Published:
Friday, January 30, 2026 - 1:45pm
Carlisle Branch Accessible Washroom Out of Order
The accessible washroom at Carlisle Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
Published:
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 - 12:30pm
Central Library - Sunday Hours Paused
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.
Published:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 11:00am
Central Library - Daily Hours Update
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
Published:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 - 11:00am
Printing Updates
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.
Published:
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 2:00pm
Replacement and Damage Fees
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.
Published:
Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 3:00pm
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.
