| Hamilton Public Library | |
|---|---|
 Hamilton Public Library, view from top ofStelco Tower | |
 | |
| 43°15′33″N79°52′13″W / 43.259160609618206°N 79.8704048290868°W /43.259160609618206; -79.8704048290868 | |
| Location | 55 York Blvd, Hamilton, ON L8N 4E4, Canada |
| Type | Public library system |
| Other information | |
| Website | hpl |
TheHamilton Public Library (HPL) is the municipalpublic library system of the city ofHamilton inOntario, Canada.[1]
HPL services include the LocalHistory andArchives department (formerly calledSpecial Collections), which houses an extensive collection of localhistory resources and government documents from the City of Hamilton, and the Learning Centre, which provides access tolanguage materials fornew Canadians. In recent years, the HPL's collection of online resources has expanded rapidly, and now features more than 30databases covering a great variety of topic areas.[2]
Public libraries have operated in Hamilton since the 1830s, although the first branches were privately operated and tended to be ephemeral in nature.
Hamilton and Gore Mechanics' Institute was one of a series ofMechanic's Institutes that were set up around the world after becoming popular in Britain. TheMechanic's Institutes libraries eventually became public libraries when the establishment of free libraries occurred.[3]
Hamilton city council voted to publicly fund the construction and operation of a library in 1889. This building opened in February 1890. Hamilton was the first city in Canada to erect a new building for the express purpose of housing a library.A HPL branch opened on Hamilton's Barton Street in 1908.[4]Andrew Carnegie funded a new main library, which opened in 1913. This was in turn replaced by a new, six-storey central library in 1980. Today, only one half of the building houses public collections.Once restricted to the city of Hamilton, the HPL service area was expanded when the outlying townships wereamalgamated into the City in 2001. The now-amalgamated City ofDundas had had its own library in operation since 1822.[4] The outlying rural towns had previously been served by the Wentworth Libraries system. In 2001, the Wentworth and Dundas libraries amalgamated with the HPL into a single system with 22 branches,[5] 34bookmobile stops, a virtual online branch and a Visiting Library Service for the homebound.[4]
| Branch Name | Address | Location within city |
|---|---|---|
| Ancaster | 300Wilson St. E. | Ancaster |
| Barton | 571Barton St. E. | East |
| Binbrook | 2641 Highway 56 | Binbrook |
| Carlisle | 1496 Center Rd | Carlisle |
| Central Library | 55York Blvd. | Downtown |
| Concession | 565Concession St. | Central Mountain |
| Dundas | 18 Ogilvie St. | Dundas |
| Freelton | 1803 Brock Rd. | Freelton |
| Greensville | 59 Kirby Ave. | Dundas |
| Kenilworth | 103Kenilworth Ave. N. | East |
| Locke | 285Locke St. S. | Downtown |
| Lynden | 110 Lynden Rd. | Lynden |
| Mount Hope | 3027 Homestead Drive | Mount Hope |
| Parkdale | 256Parkdale Ave N. | East |
| Red Hill | 695Queenston Rd. | East |
| Saltfleet | 131 Grays Rd. | Stoney Creek |
| Sherwood | 467 Upper Ottawa St. | East Mountain |
| Stoney Creek | 777 Highway 8 | Stoney Creek |
| Terryberry | 100Mohawk Rd. W. | West Mountain |
| Turner Park | 352 Rymal Road East | South Mountain |
| Valley Park | 970 Paramount Dr. | East Mountain |
| Waterdown | 163Dundas St. E. | Waterdown |
| Westdale | 955King St W. | West |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |