Québec

A modern, angular glass and steel building is lit from within at dusk, with large, illuminated windows and straight lines. The surrounding area includes a sidewalk, bicycles, and other buildings in the background.

Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy, Québec

The second incarnation of Québec's central library aims to bring renewed attention to a struggling neighbourhood.
Interior of a church converted to a library. A glass enclosure containing the library is at the back, only occupying part of the church, which can be seen around the library.

Bibliothèque Félicité-Angers, Neuville

This little town in Quebec found an original way to preserve rare religious artifacts while updating the little-used church that protects them.
A historic building with classical architecture is flanked by modern glass structures on both sides. Snow covers the ground, and a blurred car passes by on the road in front. The scene is illuminated by soft evening light.

Bibliothèque Maisonneuve, Montréal

From visions of grandeur too big for a city budget to a dying star's last breath, the surprising history of the Maisonneuve library is far from over.
Interior of a Beaux-Arts building, a rectangular atrium surrounded by columns and a mezzanine.

Bibliothèque Centrale de Montréal

Born of decades of controversy, Montreal's first French-language public library is now home to a very unusual collection.
Exterior of a contemporary library, a three-story structure with gently curving glass walls. The ground floor is recessed from the upper stories, providing a covered area. In the foreground are flowering shrubs, a Quebec flag flying on a mast and a parking lot on which the letters DMV (for Drummondville) are painted.

Bibliothèque de Drummondville

This award-winning library combines contemporary design with a colourful reference to local industrial heritage.
Interior of a contemporary library. It is a symmetrical room surrounded by a mezzanine and with large work tables in the middle. A person is standing at the back.

Bibliothèque du Centre Canadien d’Architecture, Montréal

Combining modern elements with a respect for classical proportions, the design of the Canadian Centre for Architecture reflects its mission as an universal archive of the art.
Exterior of a presbytery converted to a library. It is a low, single story stone building with simple pitched roof. It is surrounded by mature trees and a well-kept lawn.

Bibliothèque Luc-Lacourcière, Beaumont

The 18th century presbytery of Beaumont was once a grander building serving as a schoolhouse before being reconstructed as it first stood.
Interior of a library in a converted chapel, wide-angle image of a reading room and librarian's workspace, with low metal shelves and cabinets, tables, and card catalogues. The vaulted ceiling is white with golden details.

Bibliothèque historique du Séminaire de Québec

Spanning four centuries of learning inside a former 19th century chapel, the library of the Québec Seminary is the keeper of a rich encyclopedic collection as old as the city itself.
Interior of a library in a converted Neoclassical chapel. It is a pastel-coloured barrel-vaulted hall filled with small cubicles. An organ fills a gallery at the end of the room. Cross-shaped chandeliers hang from the ceiling.

Dawson College Library, Montréal

Among the first examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada, the former Notre-Dame Congregation chapel in Montréal is now the Dawson college library.
Interior of a contemporary library. It is a whitewashed rectangular room with a barrel-vault ceiling. The room is occupied by low bookshelves and long tables, where a few students are working. Large houseplants are set on the shelves. Paper cranes hang from cables strung across the room.

Marianopolis College Library, Montréal

This room inside the English-language Marianopolis college in Montréal again welcomes its library after serving as a chapel for a religious congregation.
Interior of a large neoclassical chapel. The main part of the room is used as a meeting space, with movable chairs, while the front is closed off by a glass wall and contains a library.

Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, Montréal

Long hidden behind drab ceiling tiles, the unveiling of the former chapel at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montréal in 2004 also marked the renaissance of one of the oldest libraries on the continent.
Interior of a modern library, with a service counter at the back with the words "Retour" and "Prêt". To the left is a set of stairs leading to an elevated area with bookshelves. The words "Espace biblio" are written on a partition wall. To the right, an art print representing flowers hangs from a wall. The back wall is structured in a zigzag pattern, with T-shaped windows in each fold.

Bibliothèque la Mosaïque de la Pocatière

Opened for the 1967 Canadian Centennial, this Modernist theatre in a small Québec town now serves as the local public library.
More