The Medical Officer of Health for the City of Hamilton is issuing a Cold Weather Alert effective overnight tonight, Tuesday, February 3. A Cold Weather Alert is issued when current or anticipated weather conditions are at or below -15C or -20C 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.
All HPL Branches are Warm Places during our open service hours. www.hpl.ca/hours
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
The accessibility door at Red Hill Branch is not working. We aim to fix it quickly.
Please note the following Bookmobile visit updates.
Tuesday, February 3
Greencedar (4-5 pm) - Cancelled
Thursday, February 5
Rockton (10:30-11:30 am) - Cancelled
Bennetto Visit will be 5-5:30 pm (instead of 4-5:30 pm)
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)
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.
The accessible washroom at Carlisle Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.
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
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.
The following eResources have been recently discontinued in our HPL collections: Novelist, Summa, Summa Kids, and Northstar Digital Literacy. Please visit www.hpl.ca/articles/read-watch-listen for our full listing of online resources for your next read, watch, listen and/or learn.
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.
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.
Poetry
Age 12
1st- Norah Yanover, Dont Marry Too Quickly...
2nd- Alyssa Salas-Lynch, Yin and Yang
Honourable Mention:
Samuel Vandenberg, A Turtle and a Bunny
Age 13
1st- Maia Embuldeniya-Fernand, Revolutions
2nd- Tofarati Okewole, Rosyln
Honourable Mentions:
Laura Bruinsma, Peyto Lake
Age 14
1st- Lyric Brown, The Hollow
2nd- Jared Stassen, Freedom Flight
Honourable Mentions:
Joanne Zhang, Secrets Within Sound
Age 15
1st- Anna Metza, Dear Rainbow
2nd- Sibel Zorab, The Alchemist
Honourable Mentions:
Olivia Haas, My First Day of High School
Age 16
1st- Asher Berkelaar, A Piano
2nd- Nifemi Okewole, Walking Skeleton
Honourable Mention:
Lana Verzberger, Pen of Shadows
Age 17
1st- Freda Osayande, Red Bones/ Golden Blood
2nd- Catarina Almeida-Sales, Born Wrong
Honourable Mentions:
Erica Game, The Sun and the Moon
Age 18
1st- Marie Njoroge, A Raindrop's Journey Precipitation from Concrete
2nd- Rami Naamna, Perspectives
Honourable Mentions:
Sama Gilani, Suffocating in Fresh Air
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Poetry (French)
1st- Oliver Prang, The Calm of the Forest
2nd- Oliver Kronwald, Echos d'adieu
Honourable Mention:
Alexis Pereira, Les refugies de la mer
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Short Story
Age 12
1st- Gavin Middleton, The Whisper That Woke Ruffles
2nd- Hazal Koc, The Mockingbird
Honourable Mentions:
Yulbin-Emma Yim, Towards the Horizon
Age 13
1st- Cadence Harris- Bad Parenting
2nd- Anabia Zia- The Library Between Worlds
Honourable Mentions:
Micah Richards, The Colony Catastrophe
Age 14
1st- Hunter Chrea, Unravelling
2nd- Lucia Mostacedo, Someday, Somehow, Someway
Honourable Mentions:
Joanne Zhang, Secrets Within Sound
Age 15
1st- Marlena Bock, The Cursed Prince
2nd- Tali Sela, The Mud Monster The Promise of the Red
Honourable Mention:
Nimrah Mahmood, Blankets
Age 16
1st- Teodora Jovicevic, In Every Life Phatasmagoricalities and Fantasies
2nd- Asher Berelaar, Fantasies
Honourable Mention:
Mia Mijatovic, Me, Myself, and Why?
Age 17
1st- Jonathan Middleton, How a Cannonball Cracked Open the Truth
Alivia Jonkman- The Chest
Honourable Mention:
Julia Maas, The Exchange
Age 18
Hassan Al-Nasih, The Little Fish
Alec Aird, King of the Hill
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Short Story (French)
Corissa Lemmond, Son Collier D'Emeraude
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The Hamilton Association Young Poet's Award Winner:
Maitland Banting Silver Quill Award Winner:
For previous years, please visit the Local History & Archives Department at the 3rd floor of the Central Library.
