The Hamilton Public Library (HPL) is the
public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
There are five fundamen ...
system of
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...
.
Services
HPL services include the Local
History
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
and
Archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...
s department (formerly called
Special Collections), which houses an extensive collection of local
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
resources and government documents from the
City of Hamilton, and the Learning Centre, which provides access to
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
materials for
new Canadians. In recent years, the HPL’s collection of online resources has expanded rapidly, and now features more than 30
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases ...
s covering a great variety of topic areas.
*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 ebooks and eaudiobooks
*Multi-purpose rooms including the Hamilton Room at Central Library
*Free musical concerts and dance performances
*Six art galleries across the systems that exhibit local artists, artisans, archival displays and organizations
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.
[Harris, Michael. History Of Libraries In The Western World. 4th ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1995, p. 153.]
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.
[ ]Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...
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 one half 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
Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form.
Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal
**Pan ama ...
into the City in 2001. The now-amalgamated City of Dundas Dundas may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Dundas, New South Wales
* Dundas, Queensland, a locality in the Somerset Region
* Dundas, Tasmania
* Dundas, Western Australia
* Fort Dundas, a settlement in the Northern Territory 1824–1828
* Shire ...
had had its own library in operation since 1822.bookmobile
A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookm ...
stops, a virtual online branch and a Visiting Library Service for the homebound.[
]
List of branches
See also
* Freda Farrell Waldon
*List of Carnegie libraries in Canada
There are a total of 125 public Carnegie libraries in Canada. Of these, the vast majority (111) were built in Ontario. They were constructed and opened from 1903 to 1922. Place names as they were during the grant period are used. In a few cases, C ...
References
External links
Hamilton Public Library website
{{Authority control
Culture of Hamilton, Ontario
Public libraries in Ontario
Carnegie libraries in Canada
Buildings and structures in Hamilton, Ontario
Education in Hamilton, Ontario
1890 establishments in Ontario