Quotes

"L'univers (que d'autres appellent la Bibliothèque)"


Jorge Luis Borges

Bibliothèque infini par Job Koelewijn

"Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest."

Lady Bird Johnson

One Less Employee at B.-C. Library

The council had announced the abolition of a position at the library by the end of 2009. He seemed to have questioned this decision because there were still three employees on duty in January 2010. This is no longer the case. Since February, they are only two to hold the fort.

When the Coalition "We deserve better" had met the council, the mayor and some councilors said that the library was important but it is simply not a top priority. There are emergencies. The fact that the library has been waiting for fifteen years does not change anything. Let's keep on waiting! It will be relocated in two years, maybe three. We were told the project has to be well prpared. However, the hesitation waltz on the abolition of a post does not look like an action well weighed, nor the various relocation scenarios that have been put forth (use of school premises in Bouchard school or sub - floor of the new Youth Center, or provide for a joint construction with the future hockey school).

Question: Until then, is it the intention to stifle the library? Under finance mangement pretenses, we subtract a few thousand dollars in a city budget of over eight million dollars. Mr. Mayor said to the community television wanting to cut promotion conducted by one of the library employees and thus keep her at the counter to serve customers. Asked about what the promotion is, he has failed to answer. Ignorance of the role of library staff does nothing to reassure. Does anyone believe that the library is operated as is a grocery store and needs only to have books placed on shelves, as products? What will happen when one of the two employees will be sick or on vacation? The library will obviously have to close the door and not respect the opening hours as displayed.

According to the Québec minimum standard, the library of a city the size of Brownsburg-Chatham must have three full-time employees, plus a professional librarian. The issue is no longer here just to question the merits of the proposed relocation of the library put forward by the previous administration. The current Board demonstrates how little importance it attaches to the cultural services he has yet to provide its population.

Libraries - The New Cultural Destination

Taken from L'Unique of Decembre 2009 (UNEQ's publication)

Lanaudière - Linda Amyot

Too often forgotten, the extraordinary work of many libraries in Québec to promote literature, however, deserves recognition. It is in this spirit that was created this year the new price Bibliothèque Grand Prix Desjardins de Lanaudière culture. A similar price will be awarded next year in other regions of Québec. "The library has changed," says Johanne Gaudreau, head of Animation, promotion et communication of Réseau Biblio Centre-du-Québec, Lanaudière and Mauricie. "It is now recognized as a place of cultural diffusion, dynamic and accessible, especially for less wealthy families. Elected officials have now understood their role, as demonstrated by such investments for the construction and renovation of public libraries. "Libraries teams are demonstrating ingenuity to enliven and promote books and reading: author lectures, book bingo, story time, sections dedicated to local writers, book club, etc. "The library has become a destination in itself, where we no longer go just in passing. We take an evening or afternoon to browse, discover, read, relax, attend a lecture, participate", says Chantal Brodeur, director of the library Repentigny, winner of 2009 new library award.

There is also the Prix Gérard Desrosiers awarded to municipalities for the quality of their library premises.

Les Arts et la Ville

A non-profit organization founded in 1987, Les Arts et la Ville reunites municipal and cultural organisations to promote, support and defend the cultural and artistic development of municipalities.

With its 488 municipalities and 170 cultural organizations as members, the network currently has more than 2 000 people - elected and municipal officials, artists and cultural workers - concerned by the local cultural development.

The organisation has developed a tool for municipal interverners: La valise culturelle de l'élu municipal.

La valise culturelle de l'élu municipal aims to assist the elected officials responsible for cultural issues in the exercise of their functions. Who are the main stakeholders in the cultural system and what is the role of the municipality in terms of culture? What planning tools and management features does it have to intervene in this sector? What are the financial programs available? 

Of interest: the Argenteuil MRC is a member of the network.

Also, no need to be a big city to join. Here is the list of municipalities in Quebec of 10,000 or less population who are members (Statistics Canada 2006):

Baie-Saint-Paul (7 288)            Bromont (6 049)
Cantley (7 926)                          Chelsea (6 703)
Chibougamau (7 563)               Coaticook (9 204)
Deschambault-Grondines (2 032)
Farnham (7 809)                         L'Islet (3 840)
La Pocatière (4 575)                   La Sarre (7336)
Lac-aux-Sables (1 312)              Lac-Brome (5 629)
Lac-Etchemin (4 045)               
Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan (430)
Lorraine (9 613)                         Mont-Joli (6 568)
Mont-Tremblant (8 892)            Natashquan (264)
New Richmond (3 748)             Nicolet (7827)
Otterburn Park (8 464)              Perce (3 419)
Port-Cartier (6 758)                   Richelieu (5 208)
Saint-Antonin (3 780)         
Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville (1 570)
Saint-Didace (668)                     Saint-Donat (4 297)
Saint-Faustin-Lac-Carré (2 985)
Saint-Jean-Port-Joli (3 363)   
Saint-Pierre-les-Becquets (1 183)
Saint-Placide (1 642)      
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts (9 679)
Sainte-Anne-des-Monts (6 772) 
Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval (3 790)
Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier (5 021)
Sayabec (1 953)                          Sutton (3 805)
Trois-Pistoles (3 500)               Val-David (4 216)

A City that Cherishes its Heritage - Farnham's Example

According to Statistics Canada, Farnham has a population of 7,809 in 2006.

For a virtual tour of its heritage (in French):

http://www.ville.farnham.qc.ca/visite.htm

Library and Heritage - Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts' Library Gaston-Miron

Library Gaston-Miron, named in honour of the Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts' native poet, is situated since 1981 in a magnificent heritage building, Beaux-Arts style built in 1912. Having once served as post office, the building also houses the offices of the Heritage Committee of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts and the city's culture department.

The library offers its customers a collection of nearly 33,000 books, 50 periodicals, four Internet workstations available by reservation and a wireless Internet network.

The library pays homage to Gaston Miron by offering the « Miron le Magnifique » stamp collection as well as an armoire dedicated to prizes and honours received by the famous poet, deceased since 1996. It also offers an animation program for children such "Une naissance un livre", story time and the «Club des Aventuriers du Livre»

Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts'  population in 2008: 9625

http://www.ville.sainte-agathe-des-monts.qc.ca/en/services-bibliotheque.php

http://www.reseaubiblioduquebec.qc.ca/portail/index.aspx?page=3&module=500&BID=877

Quotations

Une bibliothèque est une chambre d'amis.

Tahar Ben Jelloun

      Tampere City Library

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

 Groucho Marx

Prosperity and the Library

Excerpt from Plaidoyer pour une bibliothèque publique culturelle – Dix défis à relever de Jean-Paul Baillargeon, Éditions ASTED, 2007.

The Mayor of Issoudun in France, has argued that "a city that is not capable of bringing culture to citizens is a city economically doomed. Close to us, columnist and essayist Alain Dubuc has shown that reading (and public reading) and collective prosperity go hand in hand in Canada *, in a work based on a truism, namely that the more a society is collectively richer, it will easily perform generous reallocations to its citizens. What about the connection between prosperity and reading? Does a prosperous society necessarily include a higher proportion than elsewhere of highly educated people? Are they are more likely to read books than others? Does a public that reads have greater "consciousness of the universe rather than being enclosed as an object trapped in the inevitable" **? Without culture is there only "consumption, survival reflexes "***? Probably all at once. One cannot deny that it is not from an ignorant population, whose culture is already weak or undeveloped, that will emerge enterprising people, groups carrying projects, innovative community ready to support these projects. (...) The culture does not concern only scholars, snobs or original, but everyone, at ranges and in different ways by groups and individuals so theypossibly have a better "consciousness of the universe" * rather than being tossed like straws or treated as pawns. This is the highest point, once again a question of dignity. Respect thereof may be combined with interest, pleasure even entertainment.

Why not apply to the public library what has made the reputation of television (before the advent of "reality TV" but that is not reality anyway)? It has charm, while opening us to the world. Like television, who, while entertaining us, taught us to look at us, sometimes without complacency, the public library, thanks to the treasures it contains, provides a better self-awareness and awareness of the universe. By transmitting culture, it does more than entertain, it gives man his dignity. 

*Dubuc, Alain. 2006. Éloge de la richesse; des idées pour donner au Québec les moyens de ses ambitions.– Monttréal: Voix parallèles. 335 p.

**Dumont, Fernand. 1996. Une foi partagée. Montréal: Bellarmin. 301 p.

***Laplante, Laurent. 2002. "Plaidoyer pour la lecture". Dans Politique culturelle et bibliothèque publique: lieu de diffusion des savoirs. Sous la dir. de Marie Goyette. Montréal : Éditions ASTED: 107-120.

Stimulating Language Development - Going to the Library

Dr Fitzhugh Dodson's How to Parent, excerpt (Google translation from the French text, sorry for the inconvenience):

"How to stimulate language development in your child?

The language of the child should be considered on two levels: the spoken language and the written language. There are several ways to stimulate each of them.

The first is to read him stories and books. You can start to take him to the library and help choose books starting at the age of three years. Introduce him to the librarian and help him become the librarian's friend.

It is surprising how few parents attending the library know their children's librarian. (If there is one librarian, she will also guide you to choose children's books.)

A librarian can provide considerable assistance to teach a child to discover all the richness of a library and help them feel at home.

Make a habit of going regularly to the library to borrow books. (Keep in mind that young children have difficulty understanding the need to make Ausi books are understanding and patient: a child hurts the difference between buying a book and borrow it for two weeks.) "

Introduction to reading and writing

"It took 25 years so that in Québec awakening to reading and writing of the young child becomes a major concern of our rulers and thus promotes its penetration into all of our educational system, family and community . The awakening to reading and writing begins when the child can neither read nor write, not even in an unconventional way. This suggests that reading and writing begin in the child's life long before he attends school. The statement also indicates that the school has no monopoly to facilitate the developmentof this know-how.

This awareness of the importance of written abilities develops in a more or less happy way, depending on the influences that the child receives from his family, his social background and his entire environment. These influences enable him informally to acquire knowledge and develop skills in written communication. "

Jacqueline Theriault, PhD.

February 2010 is the Culture in the School month. The libraries are part of the directory of educational resources culture.

Book Month in Laval

Hand in Hand - Preventing illiteracy

Heritage and Public Library - Lac Brome's Example

Pettes Memorial Library is the oldest free rural library in the Province of Québec.

Lac Brome's population (Statistics Canada, 2006): 5629

History

After the death of Nathaniel Pettes, his widow, Narcissa Pettes (1821-1902), decided to have a library built in memory of her husband and family. This gift was the basis of the creation of the first free public library in rural Quebec. The library was officially opened in March of 1894.

Architecture

The library retains an exceptional style, which is apparent in its Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. This style was developed by the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson during the industrialization of the 19th century. He designed various buildings using historical styles such as the Queen Ann, the Neo-Gothic, and the Italian Renaissance style.

http://www.cclacbrome.com/pagesen/KnowltonBromeLaketours.htm

http://pettes.ca/

The Role of Librarians

Excerpt from the blog pirathécaire

(http://pirathecaire.com/2009/11/17/he-les-biblioblogueurs-quebecois-chiche/)

The role of librarians is multiple. Yes, librarians are preoccupied to develop collections that reflect more accurately the needs of their clients, but they also work to:

■ develop optimally their local library;

■ manage their library's resources, from its budget to its logistics;

■ manage the computer systems of their library, particularly its integrated library management (which includes the catalog) and databases;

■ facilitate the identification of documents acquired by overseeing their indexing and classification;

■ assist their clients in finding information;

■ train their customers to information retrieval, better use of information, etc..;

■ animate their library;

■ promote their services, often unknown or misunderstood by their customers and therefore under-used;

■ support the document management of their organization;

■ ... and we pass, and best.

Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines' Example

Mrs. Judith Prévost left a message on the blog to give Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines' library as an example. Here are some contemporary numbers taken from its Web site:

The Library numbers:

• The collection is comprised of more than 50,000 documents, is extensive and varied: stories, novels, biographies, science, fine arts, genealogy, magazines are all available resources.
• Each year the staff loans about 86,000 documents, which illustratres the satisfaction of the population which is 13,400 residents.
• Since its opening in 1980, the Library has received approximately $400,000 in grants from the Ministry of Culture and Communications and the City has spent over $2,000,000.

http://ville.ste-anne-des-plaines.qc.ca/biblio/

Do you know of a library to cite as an example?

Where Are You From? Or the Pride of Our Hometown 3/3

Louis Pelletier, a general contractor specializing in built heritage, came to share his passion and experience with us January 19, 2010. This is the last part of his lecture's account.

A community that has lost its memories has no soul. We can neglect the maintenance of buildings for some time, but we stretch the rubber band until it breaks. At that time, the massacre is difficult to repair. All the excuses (too expensive, too much maintenance, no parking) offer no good solution. The priorities now seem futile if we think of our ancestors who gave their five cents, their arms and the sweat of their brow to build churches that are today the richest heritage of Quebec . They wore the same clothes for 25 years and they would surely have found it strange to change a new car after a loan-lease of 24 months.

The Quartier Latin of Québec, as well as Montréal's and Trois-Rivières', are loved and fiercely protected. Who would have thought that McDonald, a giant of capitalism, would comply with the requirements of the City of Québec and abandon his yellow ark  and red sign to give it a color harmonized with those of Old Québec? It was simply to ask the multinational. Who asks nothing, gets nothing.

When he speaks of heritage, Louis Pelletier becomes lyrical. To a brave heart, nothing is impossible. And what if we looked around us? And what if we recognized the signs of our past, the legacy of our artisans, our predecessors? And what if we listened to the witnesses who are still among us, who have so much to tell? And what if we found the beauty of the past and we could proudly say: I live in Brownsburg-Chatham, you know, this jewel in the mountain surrounded by valleys and streams, beneath which flows the Outaouais River? Over time, let's fill the vase with the roses that our buildings will be restored. We will be inflated with pride when we admire the splendid bouquet we have assembled over the years.