Quebec public libraries are preparing a major digital shift by developing a strategy for sharing their online services, including their catalog. The sector lags behind other examples, including streaming services, in this regard. The 3.0 revolution will require significant investments of hundreds of millions over the decade.
“We say it loud and clear, we are behind other organizations that interact with the public: the shift has not happened and now we have to get on with it,” says Eve Lagacé, general director of the Association of Public Libraries of Quebec (ABPQ).
She recalls that Quebec has made significant efforts to build or renovate new libraries in recent decades. It is therefore a question of providing them with adequate digital infrastructure to enable them to fully play their role.
“Digital technology will help us serve our customers by offering them a personalized and friendly experience,” says Director Lagacé. It is a means to help us fulfill our various cultural and information missions as well as our social mission. »
The revelation at Duty The development of this Digital Strategy is taking place in the middle of Public Library Week. The project is in its initial phase. The plan aims for the first concrete establishments around 2027.
We want all of Quebec’s collections to be integrated and to make it easy for citizens to find their way around them.
Upstream consultations confirmed the enormous needs justifying the new project. A current step is evaluating the tools used here and abroad to judge the best option for pooling services in Quebec.
“Saskatchewan has done it, as Ireland and the Netherlands have also implemented a single digital system in their networks,” says Director Lagacé. In Quebec we have the great example of university libraries which use a single shared system. We want to go further by adding elements of artificial intelligence and a relational marketing component. »
The Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications already provides assistance through the Digital Cultural Plan. The Chagnon Foundation also supports preliminary studies which should lead to a call for tenders to develop the IT solution in the coming years.
This crucial step will require “hundreds of millions of dollars” and Director Lagacé affirms that the MCCQ is well aware of this. “The final figures are not known but currently the ministerial signs are positive. Listening and welcoming are there. » It was impossible to obtain a comment from the MCCQ before publication.
Forward but not like before
Efforts by the ABPQ, the Bibliothèque et Archives nationaux du Québec and the BIBLIO Network have made it possible for a dozen years to develop digital collections. The pretnumérique.ca platform allows you to borrow digitized books by connecting to a public library website.
“It’s a Quebec solution for Quebec works, which is very good,” says M.me Lagacé. But Internet platforms for users are lagging behind in development really, really significantly. In addition, the French-speaking Quebec market is unique in North America, which adds difficulties when we want to adapt digital tools there. »
Some services offered online remain difficult to access for users. They no longer meet standards of usability and efficiency and are therefore underutilized. This is the case, for example, for magazines, watching films or learning languages online. Quebec municipalities use eleven different software programs, which further complicates exchanges.
Pooling would facilitate the discoverability of establishments, their collections and their services and not only for digital books. “Currently if you search for the title of a novel on the Web, the result will point to bookstores but never to a local public library,” says the general manager. We want all of Quebec’s collections to be integrated and to make it easy for citizens to find their way around. »
The paradigm shift would also allow establishments to use the valuable data generated online by users. This kind of information partly explains the strength of streaming sites like Netflix or Spotify, which analyze their customers’ consumption and then provide content suggestions adapted to their practices.
“We use our data very poorly,” says Director General Lagacé. We are not even able to understand users’ tastes in detail and on a massive scale. The objective is to improve the service by helping it with recommendations, but on an optional basis. »
Algorithms will not replace but support human professionals, very human. In addition, in Quebec, the sector is in dire need of human resources and here again digital technology and artificial intelligence in particular could compensate.
“I hope I don’t disappoint anyone by saying that librarians have not read the entire collection of books in their libraries,” concludes Eve Lagacé. The data can guide certain choices of books or services. »