The Great Library includes homeless people

The Grande Bibliothèque hosted the organization’s seventh edition of Camelot d’un jour on Tuesday. The Itinerarywhere public figures are paired with people selling this magazine throughout the metropolis.

A place of healing and cultural action, located in the heart of Montreal, the Grande Bibliothèque is also at the forefront of the fight against homelessness. Among its tools: a heat stop, a community garden and activities for citizens from all walks of life to meet.

“I often took refuge in libraries,” confides Siou Deslongchamps, peddler for the magazine The Itinerary for seven years now. “The Great Library, ah! Here I have concentration. The beautiful wood, the mezzanines, it calms me down,” he describes.

Mr. Deslongchamps now lives in a studio, but his love of libraries dates back to childhood. And he is not the only one to find a form of refuge in the emblematic building in the heart of the metropolis.

In 2015, the Grande Bibliothèque hired a person dedicated to promoting cohabitation between all its users, including the most vulnerable. “It’s important for us to be an integral part of the community, and to provide solutions,” summarizes Marie Grégoire, president and CEO of Bibliothèque et Archives nationaux du Québec (BAnQ).

Located at the corner of Boulevard de Maisonneuve and Rue Berri, the Grande Bibliothèque is in an area where issues of homelessness and drug addiction have made headlines for months.

But within its walls, tranquility remains. In 2022, for example, 104 “withdrawals” of people were made at the Grande Bibliothèque, compared to 220 before the pandemic, in 2019 (the traffic had also halved in 2022), indicates Claire-Hélène Lengellé, manager media relations for BAnQ.

Now, some people can arrive with more intense problems, but there are not more of them, also says M^me Gregory. The goal of the Grande Bibliothèque: to provide a safe and welcoming place. To all.

Be part of the solution

Last February, when the mercury dropped to -40 below zero, the Grande Bibliothèque was transformed into a warm stop, in collaboration with The Itinerary and the Social Development Corporation (SDS). An experience that will be repeated this winter.

This is just one of the services set up to help the most vulnerable. For example, security officers have been trained by organizations specializing in homelessness. And a person does not need to have a fixed address to subscribe to BAnQ.

For two years, a community garden located behind the Grande Bibliothèque has also been maintained by young people from the Specter de rue organization. “At the end of August, we had given 100 kilos of food to around ten food banks. And it’s not over,” underlines Marie-Pierre Gadoua, coordinator of social mediation and cultural action at BAnQ.

Another new feature: a mobile unit from the Old Brewery mission has been stationed once a week at the Great Library since August. The workers make rounds and can help the homeless with their administrative procedures (taxes, finding housing).

That’s without counting all kinds of workshops and cultural activities – site visits, photo exhibitions, poetry readings, etc. – created in conjunction with organizations such as L’Accueil Bonneau and The Itinerary.

“For a homeless person, entering the Grande Bibliothèque means becoming part of society,” says the general director of The ItineraryLuc Desjardins. L’Itinerary is a bimonthly street magazine that aims for the social reintegration of marginalized people.

“ [Comme directeur] I’m going to hear a lot more from our members about going to a workshop or a discussion at the library than selling a magazine! », he remarks.

The next step for the Grande Bibliothèque is to hire its own stakeholders, a project inspired by what is already being done at the Drummondville library.

Camelot for a day

Another example of its involvement in the neighborhood: the Grande Bibliothèque hosted the seventh edition of Camelot for a Day on Tuesday, in a festive atmosphere. On this occasion, public figures are paired with peddlers of The Itinerary and spend a few hours selling the magazine throughout the metropolis.

“Rejection is really very difficult,” observes actor Stéphane Demers, met at the Bonaventure metro station with Siou Deslongchamps. “But I like the idea of ​​getting involved and living the experience, like Siou or the other camelots live it,” adds the man who is in his second year with Camelot d’un jour.

At the Great Library, actress and director Mariloup Wolfe found space in her schedule to participate in Camelot for a Day for the first time. She is paired with Samir, whom she has seen for years in front of the Jean Coutu near her home, on Avenue du Mont-Royal. “I can’t wait to learn more about his story!” “, she says in passing.