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.
Due to limited Staffing, Lynden Branch will be open today from 1-6pm with Extended Access services only. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Bookmobile is off the road from December 25-27, December 31, and January 1st. Visit www.hpl.ca/bookmobile for our Holiday Schedule.
Due to the setup for the Noon Hour Concert, the Fourth Floor at Central Library will be closed on Friday, January 2. Makerspace and Newcomer Learning Centre will remain open. Floors 1-3 have spaces to work and study.
All branches close on Thursday, December 25, for Christmas. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on Sunday, December 28, 2025. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on Thursday January 1 for New Years Day. This includes branches with Extended Access.
All branches close on Friday, December 26, 2025 for Boxing Day . This includes branches with Extended Access.
All HPL Branches close early on Wednesday, December 24 at 1pm. All locations are also closed on Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25, and Boxing Day, Friday, December 26. Visit www.hpl.ca/hours for our Holiday Schedule.
All HPL Branches close early on Wednesday, December 31 at 1pm. All locations are also closed on New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1st. Regular service hours resume on Friday, January 2. www.hpl.ca/hours
Branch Study Halls are paused Friday, December 19, 2025 through Monday, January 5, 2026. Central Library Study Hall hours resume Spring 2026.
www.hpl.ca/study-halls
Bring back your borrowed library items (due Oct 1 or later) 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 - Alana Cheng, Knife
2nd - Aria D'Andrea, Mountains
Honourable Mention:
Bethany Shadd, Music to Me
Age 13
1st - Lars Vonk, Deep Down Under
2nd - Hunter Chrea, I'm Not Enough
Honourable Mentions:
Lucia Mostacedo, Reader
Age 14
1st - Minjun Choi, GoGuardian
2nd - Olivia Haas, Traffic
Honourable Mentions:
Rachael Haveman, I Don't Want to Write any Poems Today
Alexis Pereira, Worth the Risk
Age 15
1st - Sumayyah Satia, Give Peace to your Heart
2nd - Yamam Qays, Chamber of White
Honourable Mentions:
Madeleine Hastings-Speck, We Were Just Kids
Josephine Bertrand, Standing Strong
Age 16
1st - Jewels Snider, A Robin's Resilience
2nd - Hana Hvezda, Red on White
Honourable Mention:
Jade Chan, Rapid Relief
Age 17
1st - Claire Weingartner, Red
2nd- Marie Njoroge, Dandelion Season
Honourable Mentions:
Ali Al- Nasih, Gentle Rain
Age 18
1st - Meryanna Pedrousyan, Ink Incompatible with Paper
2nd - Megan Mills, Blitzed at the Ball
Honourable Mentions:
Chaim Evans, Life Through a Kaleidoscope
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Poetry (French)
1st - Madeleine Hastings-Speck, Le Chanson de I'lsolation
2nd - Mikaela Pereira, Que mettries-vous dans votre valise?
Honourable Mention:
Evelina Romero, Quand Je Suis Seule
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Short Story
Age 12
1st - Anna Lohvynenko, First Place
2nd - Saif Shahrouri, Belonging
Honourable Mentions:
Alyssa Filipe, A Merchant's Apprentice
Age 13
1st - Addison Jonkman, The Native Way
2nd - Kerrington Groenewegen, Sound of Screams
Honourable Mentions:
Jude Hill, No Surrender
Joanne Zhang, Beatrice
Ademidun Arimoro, An Old Friend
Cheryl Yem, The Merge
Jonah Kaplan, The War of the Burger Restaurants
Bajrang Khanna, Unbroken Bond
Lyric Brown, Hippopotamus Story
Jared Stassen, Too Young for War
Age 14
1st - Sara Jayne Harsevoort, The Expulsion of the Acadians
2nd - Brenna Hall, A New Life
Honourable Mentions:
Jacob Veldpaus, Tut’s Curse
Grace Kikkert, The Crash
Michael Lutz, Within
Charlotte Maertens, 8 Minutes
Rachael Haveman, Frederick’s Flowers
Age 15
1st - Aibhlin Rogers, Unheard of
2nd - Asher Berkelaar, The Tachyon Paradox
Honourable Mention:
Thomas Luong, The Grieving Bench
Age 16
1st – Katelyn Marshall-Zyba, Devil’s Ridge
2nd – Madison Heise, True Beauty
Age 17
1st – Mia Antonelli, My Greatest Friend Is My Greatest Revenge
2nd – Olivia Belrose, The Sum of Zero
Age 18
1st – Chaim Evans, Love at Long Last
2nd – Kyra Bredenhof, Unearthing
Honourable Mention:
Harshvi Patel, The Secret Goldfish
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Short Story (French)
1st – Dianne Tomara, Le voyage vers le rêve canadien
2nd – Joshua Middleton, Choisir mon propre chemin
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The Hamilton Association Young Poet's Award Winner:
Age 16
1st - Jewels Snider, A Robin's Resilience
Honourable Mention:
Claire Weingartner, Red
Maitland Banting Silver Quill Award Winner:
Age 15
1st - Aibhlin Rogers, Unheard of
For previous years, please visit the Local History & Archives Department at the 3rd floor of the Central Library.
