While there is no doubt that the libraries of Saint-Élie, Rock Forest, Brompton and Lennoxville are operated by dedicated people, a visit to the premises also allows us to understand the extent to which libraries are underfunded. in Sherbrooke is important and chronic. Modest would be a polite way to describe them.
Even if it has a certain charm due to its heritage, it’s hard to believe that Lennoxville is next to a university. That of Saint-Élie is barely larger than that of a primary school, the same in Brompton. The Rock Forest one clearly lacks space, everything is crowded, little room to read or breathe.
In a study, Sherbrooke emerges as the city where users have the least library space to read, all things considered. We also point out that Sherbrooke only invests $25 per inhabitant for its libraries, while similar cities like Lévis or Saguenay invest $35 and Trois-Rivières, $45. In current libraries, around 40% of the surface area is for public spaces, in Sherbrooke, it is around only 23%. Sherbrooke also has a deficit in opening hours, almost half as many as it should.
The Saint-Élie library has places to sit, but no quiet space to read. (Maxime Picard/La Tribune)
In fact, on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest score, Estrie only obtained a score of 2, in the 2023 national portrait of Quebec public libraries. And yes, several Quebec libraries have a rating of 5, but not in Estrie.
But at least, we can say, these Sherbrooke neighborhoods have a branch. Unlike Fleurimont, where 27% of the population lives, or 49,000 people.
The subject tears up the municipal council. In theory, everyone is in favor of a library in Fleurimont, but virtue is shattered by the project on the table, that of transforming the Sainte-Famille church into a library. Forty million dollars is too expensive according to some of the council. A more modest project would be needed.
Although it would also require investments, the Éva-Senécal library in the city center is the one that comes closest to current standards. (Maxime Picard/La Tribune)
The idea of collaborating with school libraries has been put forward, but quite frankly, this is an argument that can only come from someone who has not used libraries much in their life.
Already, school libraries are often underfunded as well. And that’s when they have the space to exist. Increasingly, school libraries are being requisitioned to serve as practice rooms, classrooms or cafeterias.
But even in ideal situations, these are generally modest libraries which fulfill a specific role, in a particular context with a targeted clientele. A primary school library, for example, cannot meet the needs of an adolescent or adult readership. It also does not have the volume, the number of copies, nor the sufficient staff to serve an entire neighborhood.
Located in a poorly adapted building, the Bertrand-Delisle library in Rock Forest lacks light and space. (Maxime Picard/La Tribune)
At the Bertrand-Delisle library, in Rock Forest, around a hundred people pass every weekday and twice as many on weekends, for a total of 46,000 people per year. Families, elderly people, adults, the clientele borrowing the 30,000 books available is very varied. A school library cannot meet these needs. She can perhaps complete the offer, at best, but she already has a mission of her own.
It changes lives
I didn’t grow up in a family that read. There were no libraries at my parents’ house. I was the only one excited about book fairs – which I visited with the school or on my own, depending on the age.
Above all, I borrowed a lot of books from the library. A lot. Comics, novels, short stories, encyclopedias, magazines too expensive for my budget, like Science & Vie or National Geographic. Every week, I borrowed a dozen documents.
I quickly looked around my school library. I even ended up taking a tour of my suburban library. At 13, that’s when I started taking an hour’s bus ride to access the large selection of the large library in downtown Quebec, Gabrielle-Roy. Library which has just been renovated, moreover, for 43 million dollars.
The renovations of the Gabrielle-Roy library in Quebec relied on omnipresent windows to provide natural light to public spaces. (Archives The Sun)
It was very exciting for me to have access to lots of new choices, artists and collections that I had never seen in my local library. It would take me several columns to explain how important libraries have been in my life as they have been in the lives of many people. It was a place of fulfillment, of learning, of discoveries, of refuge, of evolution.
Too expensive
The worst thing the City of Sherbrooke could do would be to build a library in Fleurimont resembling those in other boroughs. It would be insulting, but above all archaic. Today’s libraries are no longer like those from the previous century.
If the heritage building makes the place pleasant, the Lennoxville library lacks space to adapt to today’s needs. (Maxime Picard/La Tribune)
The church already belongs to the City. If this project does not pass, it will lead to another abandoned heritage building. Razing the current building would have a cost. Those who think that razing a building is necessarily economical should check before moving forward.
In Saguenay, the demolition of the Saint-Joachim church came close to a million dollars. In La Tuque, the demolition of a church was estimated at one million. Demolishing the Sainte-Famille church could cost two to three million. And that’s just to put things down. It doesn’t restart anything. It can easily become a waste of money if it doesn’t fit into a plan.
As I said in a previous column, given the location of the Sainte-Famille Church, opposite a school and in the middle of a residential area, the options for redevelopment are limited. A real estate project would encounter too many obstacles, there aren’t really any commercial options, it’s difficult to make it anything other than a community place without the City losing out. Like a library.
Sainte-Famille Church is located in a residential area, opposite a primary school and close to the Cégep de Sherbrooke. (Maxime Picard/Archives La Tribune)
What is a bit annoying is the double standard between the red carpet which is sometimes rolled out for industrial or real estate projects and the distrust often present when it comes to culture. Culture always comes across as a secondary subject.
However, if there is one infrastructure that contributes to education and the knowledge economy, it is libraries. If there is one place that contributes to the dissemination of culture, it is libraries. If there is one center that facilitates social integration, it is libraries. If there is one place that nourishes the imagination of young people, that nourishes dreams and stimulates the projects of tomorrow, it is libraries.
It’s true, the City of Sherbrooke has several major investments ahead of it, in several infrastructures. The funnel is tight. But culture cannot be sacrificed, it must also find its place among other issues.
I’ll allow myself this easy comparison, but investing in a library is a much more guaranteed return than that of a large project like Northvolt. Its performance does not depend on market fluctuations, you just need to build it and maintain it. Like a garden, it then becomes a renewable resource of collective wealth.
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