City-Wide Outage, Library Service Impacted

HPL is recovering from the City of Hamilton's cybersecurity-related outage, which began Sunday February 25 and continues today, Wednesday November 20. Learn more.

Public computers are available at all branches.
Printing is available at all branches. Photocopying is available at all branches except for the Concession, Dundas, and Terryberry branches. Scanning is not yet available.
Public Wi-Fi is available at most branches except the Ancaster Branch.
Automatic check-ins are operating.
Makerspace services are available at select locations.

Contact Library Staff: call 289-779-7588, chat at hpl.ca, and email askus@hpl.ca. Branches are open. Check hpl.ca/events for program updates. Thank you for your patience.

Frequently Asked Questions | HPL

Publish Date:

Tuesday, November 12, 2024 - 8:00am

Notices

6

Magazine and ILLO Delay

Magazine and ILLO deliveries are delayed due to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) strike. Thank you for your understanding.

Publish Date:

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - 8:30am

City IT Planned Maintenance

A City IT systems update is scheduled for early Saturday morning. This will impact access to HPL's network and some applications. This update will improve overall network capacity, performance, resiliency, reliability and is the foundation for future network updates. Thank you for your patience.

Publish Date:

Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - 8:00am

3D Printing Not Available On Sundays

Please note that 3D printing services are unavailable on Sundays. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Publish Date:

Thursday, November 14, 2024 - 2:00pm

Early Closure - All HPL Branches, Friday, November 22

Due to a special event, all HPL branches will close at 4 pm on Friday, November 22.

Central Library's 4th Floor will be closed all day except for the Newcomer Learning Centre and Makerspace which will be open until 4 pm.

Regular service hours resume on Saturday, November 23.

Thank you for your understanding.

Affected Branch:

Central Library

Publish Date:

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 - 2:00pm

Delayed Branch Openings

Due to Staff training, the following branches have delayed openings of 10 am on:

Tuesday, November 19: Concession

Wednesday, November 20: Ancaster (2 pm opening)

Thursday, November 21: Valley Park

Please visit nearby branches for your library needs. www.hpl.ca/hours

Publish Date:

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 - 12:00pm

Kenilworth Branch - Roof Repairs

From November 11 to 29, the parking lot may not be available at certain times of the day due to repair maintenance. There may also be some noise disruptions in the branch. Thank you for your understanding.

Affected Branch:

Kenilworth Branch

Publish Date:

Thursday, November 7, 2024 - 3:00pm

The Short Works Prize

Short Works Prize logo

Short Works Prize Call for Entries

The contest opens August 6 and closes October 27, 2024

Recognizing Excellence in Writing: The 10th Annual Short Works Prize for Hamilton-area writers. Presented with  Hamilton Arts & Letters Magazine and the  Hamilton Public Library.

The SWP Guidelines have changed this year.
Please read the guidelines carefully before you submit your entry.

Eligibility:

Writers must live in the Hamilton Public Library service area. Writers who live in communities with reciprocal borrowing privileges at HPL are not eligible. 
Please use 12-point, Arial font and double-space all entries.  
Entries are not returned. 
Cost to enter: $0.  
Writers who received Honourable Mentions in 2023 may apply again in 2024. 
Writers who received a 2023 Short Works cash prize are not eligible to enter in 2024.

New Guidelines:

This year, SWP will recognize Unpublished works only. All entrants must submit a piece of writing that has NEVER been published before. Anyone may submit. Entrants may be professional writers; OR creative writers who have never had their work published before.

The awards program is open to Adults (21 and older) and Youth (16-20).

All entrants are invited to submit ONE piece of writing that has NEVER BEEN PUBLISHED BEFORE in ONE of the following categories:

Poetry
Fiction
Creative Non-Fiction

‘Blind judging’: Your name must ONLY appear on your entry form, not on the work you submit. Jurors will read the works without knowing the names of the authors.

Adult Writers

Writers aged 21 or older may submit ONE piece of writing that has not been published. A minimum of three $100 cash prizes will be awarded.

Young Writers

Writers ages 16 to 20 at the time of entry may submit ONE piece of writing that has not been published. Up to eight cash prizes of $50 will be awarded.

Word Count
Entries may be a few lines, or a few pages. The maximum word count is 6,000 words.

All entrants will be notified of the results via email by Nov 25, 2024.  

Submissions: 
Enter online below. The deadline to submit is Oct 27, 2024, 11:59pm. 

Questions? Email: HAL@HALmagazine.com 
Hamilton Arts & Letters magazine 
www.HALmagazine.com 

First Name *

Last Name *

Address *

City *

Postal Code *

Phone *

Email *

Your twitter handle (optional)

If you are entering the Young Writers category, please tell us your age.

Adults Unpublished Work (age 21+)

Enter ONE work in ONE of the following categories:

Poetry • Fiction • Creative Non-Fiction

Poetry Title

Fiction Title

Creative Nonfiction Title

Young Writers Unpublished Work (age 16-20)

Enter ONE work in ONE of the following categories:

Poetry • Fiction • Creative Non-Fiction

Poetry Title

Fiction Title

Creative Nonfiction Title

Upload Submission *

Please select the document you are submitting

How did you find out about the Short Works Prize?

Other

The Short Works Prize is presented in partnership with the Hamilton Public Library and Hamilton Arts & Letters magazine. For further information, contact HAL@HALmagazine.com.

The SWP observes the Council of Literary Magazines & Presses Contest Code of Ethics and is for authors currently living in the areas serviced by the Hamilton Public Library. Out of town borrowers are not eligible. All entries will be scanned to ensure originality. Plagiarism will result in automatic disqualification.

SWP Promotional Partner:
Hamilton Arts & Letters magazine
www.HALmagazine.com

_{Personal information contained on this form is collected under the authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 1990. MFIPPA\Regulations 29. The information collected will be used in the process of the library’s business. Questions regarding the collection and use of personal information can be directed to: Chief Librarian, Hamilton Public Library, P.O. Box 2700, Hamilton, ON L8N 4E4.}