Monday, April 28 is the National Day of Mourning to remember and honour those who have died, been injured or suffered illness in the workplace. All HPL Branches will observe a minute of silence at 11am to honour their memories.
Monday, April 28 is Election Day in Canada. Westdale Branch is open 9:30am-9:30pm as a polling station. Please bring one piece of ID to vote. Please note there will be a minute of silence at 11am in honour of the National Day of Mourning.
Due to City IT maintenance, HPL's catalogue and digital resources will not be available on Sunday, April 27 between midnight and 1am. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Extended Access at Freelton Branch is not working. We aim to fix it quickly. Apologies for the inconvenience.
From Monday, May 5 to Saturday, May 31, the Ancaster Branch will be temporarily closed due to a roof and HVAC replacement. During this time, service hours will be available at the Ancaster Rotary Centre, 385 Jerseyville Road West, Ancaster. The last day to pick up your Holds is Thursday, May 1st. Thank you for your understanding.
The digital microfilm machines at Central Library are not working. A single analog machine is available, but it doesn't print. We aim to have the digital devices repaired as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Due to the ongoing roof repair project, noise and parking disruptions will continue until April 25. Thank you for your patience.
The first phase of renovations will begin at the Sherwood Branch from April 10 to May 2. During this time, noise disruptions may occur throughout the branch due to a basement renovation. Parking, access to the building, and collections will not be affected. Thank you for your patience. www.hpl.ca/sherwood
Please be aware of online phishing attempts impersonating Hamilton Public Library and Library Staff. HPL does not solicit paid freelance opportunities through social media or other messaging applications. HPL does not request personal or banking information through social media or require financial compensation when reviewing job applications. Please report phishing schemes to communications@hpl.ca. If you think you are a victim of fraud, please call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
Parks Police

In the early 1940's, vandalism and other occurrences began to increase in frequency in Hamilton's parks. A man by the name of Fred Marshal, one of Hamilton's parks superintendents, was worried about these incidents. In 1943, Mr. Marshall decided to hire George James, the first Parks Policeman, and also the first man hired in this type of position to have only one arm, to patrol Gage Park and help solve the problem. Almost overnight, Gage Park became a safe place for women and children. Before his first season was over, George had so won the respect of the children of the fast developing district that he had a thousand or more young assistants to tip him off when trouble started brewing. So pleased was Fred Marshall as the experiment progressed that he encouraged Mr. James to expand his efforts. As the years rolled by, George managed to recruit men to patrol other parks in the city. These men shared his views and his dedication to park discipline. They were moulded into a specially-trained force, willing and able to perform their duties of constant vigilance. They were a select and loyal crew. Little misdemeanours which could grow into major crimes were nipped in the bud. Crime was not given a place to start.
The creation of a Hamilton parks police force had reduced destruction in Hamilton parks to negligible proportions. The idea behind a parks police force was to get on speaking terms with all children in the various parks, and if they did something wrong, to get them on a minor offence so that they wouldn't have the opportunity to commit a more serious crime. The men patrolled the park at irregular hours. They were special constables with all the powers of regular policemen.
Policing the parks meant a 14-hour day which included detaining prowlers, drunkards, and other offenders until the city police could reach the scene and take over. Besides dealing with instances of damage to parks property, first aid cases, prowlers, and investigation, the police were subject to calls at home, before their regular duty started at 2 p.m. An 8-hour day was no longer possible, and they had neither Sundays, Saturdays, nor holidays as time off. Hamilton had an excellent parks police force - one which was the envy of many other communities in the country.