À la bibliothèque

Expounding upon the virtues of public libraries is a bit like talking about how good it is to breathe clean air: it’s kind of obvious. But just as we insist on polluting our air until it is nearly toxic, libraries are often shamefully neglected. That was the case for most of Montreal’s history, but luckily, things have changed. If you ask me, the opening of the Grande Bibliothèque in 2005 was a turning point. Suddenly, Montreal’s underfunded, overlooked public library network had an anchor. People not only flocked to the new central library, their interest in the rest of the system was revived, and City Hall responded with more investment.

An example of that is Biblioclip, an annual video contest launched last year. Filmmakers were invited to make a one-and-a-half-minute spot about the public library network. The grand prize: television broadcast and $4,000. The deadline for this year’s edition is April 30th, and if last year’s submissions were any indication, the standard will be high. On his new blog about Montreal urban life and culture, Andy Riga pointed to a few of last year’s best contenders. I’m a particularly big fan of these two, which both convey the public imagination and knowledge that libraries help foster.

A Book Market for the Big Bibliothèque?

When it opened at the end of April, 2005, the Grande Bibliothèque defied expectations when it attracted tens of thousands of people who were eager to check out its airy architecture and multimedia, multilingual collection. The crowds never let up: even today, two and a half years later, a visit to the library reveals an always-crowded place enjoyed by a large cross-section of Montreal’s population. It is, quite clearly, Montreal’s most important public building of the past three decades.

There’s just one problem: shortly after it opened, big chunks of the green-glass cladding popped out and fell onto the street below. Temporary safety barriers were erected while the library, city, borough and province all squabbled over how best to deal with the situation. Now, finally, a permanent plan has emerged: decorative planters, fences and awnings will be built around the library to protect pedestrians should any more pieces of glass fall. The work will start next spring and finish by July.

Without any renderings, I can’t say what effect this will have on the library’s architecture. It will at least be improvement over the status quo. But what I’m curious about is whether or not this will finally enable the library to deal with its western flank facing Savoie Avenue, a small laneway in between Berri and St. Denis. When it was built, you see, the library was conceived as being open to all of its surroundings. This building has no back end: there are entrances on all four sides of the building.

Savoie was given a particularly special treatment. Along with a nice entrance bearing the inscription “Vous êtes ici,” the library faces this alley with a succession of shallow retail spaces. According to promotional material during the library’s construction, these spaces were originally intended to be leased to vendors to create a book market along Savoie. Last spring, the city renovated the alley, installing attractive concrete paving stones and new lampposts, possibly in anticipation of the market.

With the falling-glass problem, that plan was shelved, but now that an awning will be build along this side of the library, I don’t see any reason why it can’t be put into action. Let’s hope that, by next summer, the Grande Bibliothèque will finally be able to live up to its full potential.

Inside Montreal’s “Grand Urban Gesture”

A couple of weeks ago, Midnight Poutine reported that Montreal’s new central library, the Grande Bibliothèque, has won first place in the 2007 Library Building Awards. “At once urban, human scaled, and extraordinarily open, the building succeeds by its exquisite use of materials and detailing both inside and outside,” wrote the jury. “There is a peaceful, tranquil feel that provides a welcome contrast to its grand urban gesture, masterfully executed.” The awards, which are jointly sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and the American Library Association, are given biennially to “the finest examples” of new library design by architects licenced in the United States.

When I first reviewed the Grande Bibliothèque after its opening in May 2005, I wrote that its “ugly” exterior, which “wouldn’t look out of place in a suburban office park,” was redeemed by the library’s interior beauty and functionality. Two years on, my feelings towards the library have grown only warmer. I am still ambivalent about the building’s green-glass façade, but I am impressed by its sensitivity to the surrounding streetscape. The library’s main entrance surrounds a small plaza that is constantly filled with people—despite the fact that it is almost always in the shade. On any given day in the warm months, dozens of bicycles are parked around the plaza. To the west, another entrance opens onto the intersection of two laneways, one of which leads to busy St. Denis Street. In recent months, a new café was installed here, and in the future the retail spaces that line this side of the library are meant to host some sort of book market.

What I love most about the Grande Bibliothèque is that it has so quickly been embraced by Montrealers. The decision to locate it at the corner of Berri and Maisonneuve, on top of the city’s main metro hub, next to a large university and alongside a major bicycle route, was genius. Without fail, the library is busy—and not just busy, but packed—whenever I visit. In fact, the library has been more popular than anyone expected, drawing an average of 12,000 visitors per day. The diversity of the people who use it is remarkable: this is probably the single Montreal institution that brings together a truly representative cross-section of the city’s population. I don’t think it is possible for any Montrealer to feel out of place when he or she visits the Grande Bibliothèque. In a city that is too often split along linguistic and ethnic lines, that, more than anything, is a testament to its success.

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