All Branches Closed for Canada Day

All branches close on Tuesday, July 1, 2025 for Canada Day. This includes branches with Extended Access.

All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Monday, June 30, 2025 - 8:00am
Barton Branch Accessible Washroom Out of Order

The accessible washroom at Barton Branch is not working. We aim to get it fixed quickly.

Published:
Friday, June 27, 2025 - 3:15pm
Bookmobile Stops Cancelled- Canada Day

All HPL Branches are closed Canada Day, Tuesday, July 1. Extended Access is not available. The following Bookmobile visits are also cancelled on July 1st:

  • Riverdale
  • Strathcona
  • McMaster
  • Greencedar
  • Mountview

Regular service hours resume Wednesday, July 2.

All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Tuesday, June 24, 2025 - 11:00am
Study Halls - Summer Break Pause

Study Halls are taking a summer break after Thursday, June 26. The service will resume in early September. 

www.hpl.ca/study-halls

All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Friday, June 20, 2025 - 1:30pm
Terryberry Branch Elevator Out of Order

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.

1
Published:
Saturday, May 31, 2025 - 1:00pm
Public Computers - Audio Volume

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.

 

All Branches and Bookmobile Stops
Published:
Thursday, May 29, 2025 - 4:00pm
Mount Hope Branch Accessibile Ramp Not Available

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.

Published:
Friday, May 23, 2025 - 4:30pm

30th Anniversary: 2024 Power of the Pen Winners

Power of the Pen Creative Writing Contest Award Winners 2021 book, beside a gold cup trophy of similar size

Congratulations to the 2024 Awardees and Honourable Mentions on their literary works. 
 

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

------------------------------------------------------ 

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

------------------------------------------------------------ 

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
----------------------------------- 

Short Story (French) 

1st – Dianne Tomara,Le voyage vers le rêve canadien 
2nd – Joshua Middleton, Choisir mon propre chemin 

-------------------------------------------- 

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.