Hamilton Public Library (Ontario)

Hamilton Public Library

Type	public library system in Hamilton, Ontario
Collection
Items collected	business directories, phone books, maps, government publications, books, periodicals, genealogy, local history,
Website	Hamilton Public Library website

The Hamilton Public Library (HPL) is the public library system of Hamilton, Ontario.^[1]

Services

HPL services include the Local History and Archives department (formerly called Special Collections), which houses an extensive collection of local history resources, and the Learning Centre, which provides access to language materials for new Canadians. In recent years, the HPL’s collection of online resources has expanded rapidly, and now features more than 30 databases covering a great variety of topic areas.^[2]

• Information and reference services
• Access to full text databases
• Community information
• Internet access
• Reader's advisory services
• Programs for children, youth and adults
• Delivery to homebound individuals
• Interlibrary loan
• Free downloadable audiobooks

History

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 of Mechanic's Institutes that were set up around the world after becoming popular in Britain. The Mechanic'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 two-thirds of the building houses public collections. Once restricted to the city of Hamilton, the HPL service area was expanded when the outlying townships were amalgamated into the City in 2001. The now-amalgamated City of Dundas 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 23 branches, 34 bookmobile stops, a virtual online branch and a Visiting Library Service for the homebound.^[4]

List of branches

See also

• List of Carnegie libraries in Canada

References

1. ↑ "Community Highlights for Hamilton (City)". 2001 Canadian Census. Retrieved 2006-12-04. 
2. ↑ "Hamilton Public Library Home". Hamilton Public Library website. Retrieved 2007-02-15. 
3. ↑ Harris, Michael. History Of Libraries In The Western World. 4th ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1995, p. 153.
4. 1 2 3 "History of the Hamilton Public Library". Hamilton Public Library website. Retrieved 2010-10-09. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hamilton Public Library.

• Hamilton Public Library website

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