The internet at Lynden Branch is not working. We aim to have it fixed quickly.
All branches close on Sunday, August 3, 2025 and August 4, 2025 for the Civic Holiday. This includes branches with Extended Access.
Heat Warning for the City of Hamilton.
Significant heat and humidity will arrive on July 27.
For information about heat-related illnesses, cool place locations and reducing your risk, visit hamilton.ca.
The following Bookmobile visits are modified on:
Tuesday, July 29
- Riverdale - Cancelled
- McMaster - Holds drop off only
- Greencedar - Rescheduled to 4:30-5:00pm
Wednesday, July 30
- Swansea and Helen Detwiler - Cancelled
Thursday, July 31
- Bennetto and Kinsmen - Cancelled
Friday, August 1
- Winona Park - Cancelled
The parking lot elevator at Terryberry Branch is not working. Members will need to use the accessible ramp at the Mohawk entrance and the inner elevator. We're working to get it fixed quickly.
Please note that the audio volume levels on our public computers are having issues. The estimated time of disruption is unknown at this time. Thank you for your patience.
The accessibility ramp at Mount Hope Branch is damaged. The handrail is not available. The ramp will not be available while being repaired. We aim to fix it quickly.
Desjardins Canal Disaster
The remains of the bridge and the cars
A vast concourse of people gathered round the scene of the disaster yesterday. All day men were engaged breaking into pieces the first passenger car, which had been nearly submerged. It was found impossible to raise it bodily. The locomotive and tender are still under water. The second passenger car was broken up, and carried away the first evening of the disaster. The bridge has been allowed to remain precisely as it was broken; and will, we apprehend, be allowed to continue so until after the inquest, and after thorough inspection by competent engineers. It was a matter of utter astonishment to every one, how any person could have escaped, after such a fearful fall.
The walls on either sides are of very solid masonry; the adjacent banks are perhaps a hundred feet higher than the railroad. The suspension bridge is thrown over immediately on the right, and is still higher. Then, about sixty feet below the railroad is a narrow deep channel, which looks like a sort of chasm between two high hills. Into this abyss was hurled the ill-fated train. It was just wide enough to let the cars down without touching anything to break their fall. They literally leaped sixty feet into ice and water, one passenger car following the locomotive and completely overturning, and becoming almost submerged; and the other lighting endways upon this. Great as has been the loss of life, considering the number of passengers; yet, looking at the place, it is absolutely wonderful how any one escaped.