On Monday, October 17, the presentation of BiblioQualité by the Association of Public Libraries of Quebec (ABPQ) generated strong media interest. According to the results presented in this evaluation exercise, Montreal would rank first with a score of 91%, while the average for Quebec cities is 67%. This leads one to think that only Montreal obtains a mark of excellence.
Even if this bulletin constitutes a quality, relevant and useful tool for the development of public libraries in all the municipalities of Quebec, it is still necessary to bring at least one precision to the interpretation of its results.
This clarification concerns Montreal. Its very high rating is explained by the fact that it applies to the Montreal agglomeration, which includes all the municipalities on the island, including the demerged cities, some of whose libraries are among the best in Canada. The score that applies to the territory of the current city of Montreal is rather 71%, a score barely higher than the Quebec average of 67.
These results for the city of Montreal and its agglomeration echo the Diagnosis of the municipal libraries of the City of Montreal published in 2005. This document noted a major shortage of staff, a significant lack of space, an inequitable service and the need for a significant additional financial effort.
This same diagnosis also carried out a comparative analysis with the nine Canadian cities outside Quebec with a population of 500,000 or more. Beyond the fact that Montreal was significantly behind in major categories such as personnel (professional and technical) and available space, the indicator where the gap was the most appalling was the penetration rate. Excluding the demerged cities, the situation can be summed up as follows: less than one out of three Montrealers had a history of visiting their library, whereas in the other large Canadian cities, it varied between one out of two and two out of three.
This situation has deep roots, dating back to the end of the 19the century, at the time of the creation of the Public Library Movement, a North American movement to which French-speaking Canada, at the instigation of the Church, refused to join. It was not until almost a century later, at the end of the 1970s, that the leadership of Minister Denis Vaugeois made it possible to really launch the development of public libraries.
When we examine things taking into account this historic delay of nearly a century, the progress of Quebec libraries is remarkable. But as for the Montreal network of public libraries in particular, there is still considerable catching up to do across North America. And we should be delighted with the high degree of collaboration, over the past 15 years, between the City of Montreal and the Ministry of Culture and Communications.
One of the main characteristics of the city of Montreal is the diversity of the socio-economic profile of its population. There are huge gaps in income, educational background and literacy levels. It appears that the distribution of libraries and the resources at their disposal are also very diversified, and this is all the more distressing since they can contribute to improving literacy skills, to the francization of newcomers and to their integration (more than 120 cultures that come together in Montreal), to name a few.
In his work Literacy in Quebec. A local perspective on the issues published in collaboration with the Literacy Foundation in October 2021, economist Pierre Langlois writes: “Big cities do better than the Quebec average in terms of the number of respondents reaching PIAAC level 3, the threshold deemed necessary to understand longer and more complex texts. However, disadvantaged sectors and neighborhoods of these large cities have lower results. This is exactly the case for Montreal.
Considered to be in agony 20 years ago due to the digital invasion, public libraries are nevertheless more relevant and present than ever in the lives of citizens, because they are an instrument of knowledge and culture, but also of inclusion and prosperity.
But if we are to be pleased with the progress made, in Montreal and throughout Quebec, in terms of public reading, the last thing to do is to jump to conclusions too quickly, and especially not in Montreal.
I’m sorry, but we can’t say: mission accomplished! If I can propose a conclusion, it is rather: we are finally going in the right direction, this is not the time to slow down the movement!