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.
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