Bibliothèque Luc-Lacourcière, Beaumont

May 4, 2023 In Libraries

About 10km downriver from Québec City, on the south bank of the St Lawrence, lies the village of Beaumont, whose presence is attested since the 17th century. Among the cluster of historical homes that surrounds the village church is a low stone building now used as the local library. It used to be the presbytery, built in 1721-22 and contemporary to the Beaumont church. In 1855, another house was built nearby for the village priest, and the former presbytery was transformed into a convent with the addition of a second floor. In 1904, the building was restored and there is mention of it then being used as a secondary school. A later transformation to the schoolhouse in 1945-46 is credited to local artisan Robert Lamontagne.

Archival black and white image of a stone building with a neoclassical facade. A triangular pediment in the centre is inscribed 1904.
The date 1904 and the word “école” can be read on the frontispiece on this image from around 1925.
Source: Collection initiale – Archives nationales à Québec. Cote: P600,S6,D5,P37 [reframed]
Archival black and white image of a stone and brick building with a neoclassical facade and a small bell tower.
This image from 1948 appears to show the schoolhouse after the 1945-46 renovation, with brick facade and bell tower.
Source: Fonds Ministère de la Culture et des Communications – Archives nationales à Québec. Cote : 
E6,S8,SS1,SSS103,D311 [reframed]

After a fire destroyed the school in 1979, a group of citizens organized to salvage the historical structure and tasked Lamontagne again to rebuild it as a single story house with traditional timber roof, as it once stood. After its reconstruction in 1982, the former presbytery briefly served as an art centre before welcoming the town library, which had been founded in 1978. At this occasion, the Beaumont library was renamed after ethnographer and folklorist Luc Lacourcière.

Interior of a presbytery converted into a library. It is a long, rectangular stone building with visible timber rafters, contrasting with white contemporary library furniture. Two Quebec flags hang from the rafters.
Robert Lamontagne rebuilt the library’s roof in the traditional steep pitch.

At the time of my visit in early April 2022, the library was temporarily closed while the municipal council was looking for a new librarian, a situation that has since been resolved. I am grateful to the employee who graciously opened the doors to the library for me that day!

Interior of a presbytery converted into a library, looking towards the entrance door, flanked by two windows. The door and the windows are set into a deep wall and surmounted by semicircular stained glass windows representing a church and village during the spring, autumn and winter.
The stained glass windows likely date to the 1982 reconstruction.
Interior of a presbytery converted into a library, showing a small back room with white walls, two small tables and a couch.
An extension at the back holds a little office, restrooms and a small upstairs reading room.
Interior of a presbytery converted into a library. It is a long, rectangular stone building with visible timber rafters, contrasting with white contemporary library furniture.
Bright and cheerful, the library still pays homage to the builders of the past.
Exterior of a presbytery converted to a library. It is a low, single story stone building with simple pitched roof. It is surrounded by melting snow and there's a fabric porch covering the front door.
The 1982 reconstruction restored the original shape of the building as a single level structure.

This post is part of a series on adaptive reuse in libraries. See the list of such projects I am maintaining or view other posts in this series.

References

Beaudet, P. (2010). Vieux presbytère - Bibliothèque Luc-Lacourcière. In Robert Lamontagne, artisan de Beaumont (pp. 62–63). Les Éditions GID.
Drouin, M. (2018). Rôle historique. Continuité, 158, 20–21.
Lamontagne, S. (1988, October 31). Beaumont: La bibliothèque municipale fait peau neuve. La Voix du Sud, 10.
Site patrimonial du Village-de-Beaumont. (n.d.). Répertoire Du Patrimoine Culturel Du Québec. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
Presbytère de Beaumont. (n.d.). Répertoire Du Patrimoine Culturel Du Québec. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
Bibliothèque. (n.d.). Répertoire Du Patrimoine Culturel Du Québec. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
Beaumont a inauguré une bibliothèque. (1978, November 16). Le Soleil, B3.



Content note

Library detail pages are primarily a place for me to collect information I gather on the libraries I visit, and are frequently updated. None of this should be considered authoritative, I am not an architect, nor a historian. If you notice something incorrect, please let me know!



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