At a time when several brands have chosen to leave the Latin Quarter — which has become, since the pandemic, a concentration of Montreal’s misery — UQAM is taking the opposite gamble by planning not only to modernize its central library, located near Place Émilie-Gamelin, but also to open it to the neighborhood’s population.
With this project and others, UQAM hopes to become a “leader” in the revival of the Latin Quarter. An impetus provided by the institution’s new rector, Stéphane Pallage, who took office last year. In a clear gesture, this professor of economics and former rector of the University of Luxembourg has appointed a vice-rector associated with the revival of the Latin Quarter—a first.
” [On veut] to ensure that the library’s makeover is the cornerstone of the recovery [du quartier] “in terms of physical fitness, but also in terms of programming,” explains the person who filled the position, Priscilla Ananian, in an interview from Brussels, where she was on tour.
At the moment, “there is very little porosity and transparency between the interior and exterior” of the central library, notes this urban planner and architect by training. Access to the library is difficult, the entrance being located at the end of a corridor in the basement of the Hubert-Aquin pavilion. And few windows pierce the brown brick facade of the building constructed in the late 1970s.
” It is [un bâtiment] who needs love,” emphasizes Louis-Sébastien Guimond, who oversees the library service as UQAM’s vice-rector of information systems.
In its current form, the Métamorphose project, which aims to make the UQAM central library (which includes the Arts Library, the Education Sciences Library and the Legal and Political Sciences Library) a true “living space”, provides for a new entrance to be built on Berri Street and another in the building’s interior courtyard.
“The idea is to open up, to let light into our library spaces, and to open up to the street […] and on the neighborhood,” says Mr. Guimond, a mathematician by training. “The building department is currently carrying out structural analyses to [déterminer] what is possible.
Destination location
With the Metamorphosis project, UQAM’s central library is preparing to experience a real paradigm shift, explains the vice-rector. It is no longer a question of this place of knowledge remaining a silent place where people simply come to look for a documentary resource. “It is in the air to rethink [les bibliothèques] so that they are places of life, of destination, where one can rest, work alone or in a group, where one can talk, where one can eat.
Currently, an effort is being made to identify paper works that are little used by the university community, or still available in digital version, which the University could dispose of. “The printed collection that we have at UQAM [remplit l’équivalent de] three football fields. […] “It’s a lot of space,” continues Mr. Guimond. A process of densifying the shelves is also underway.
The freed-up space will make it possible to both better showcase certain printed collections and create new locations aimed at meeting the changing needs of students more adequately.
It is in the air to rethink [les bibliothèques] so that they are places of life, of destination, where we can rest, work alone or in a group, where we can talk, where we can eat.
Study, relax, experiment
Last winter, the university community was surveyed about its needs. More spaces for individual or group work were requested, as well as areas for relaxing or socializing. “We would also like to have a café,” adds Mr. Guimond. The idea of a Fab Lab, a digital fabrication laboratory, is also gaining ground.
Recently, the Musée de l’imprimerie du Québec gave UQAM some old presses. A typography lab — mixing old-time technologies with modern ones like 3D printers — should see the light of day with the Métamorphose project. The play lab (“where we learn with games”) and the digital humanities lab (“which allows those who are not in science to take ownership of high-performance computing or artificial intelligence”) should, for their part, keep their place in the library.
Rooms adapted for clients with special needs (autism, photosensitivity, etc.) will also be set up there. And places promoting the dissemination of scientific research — professorial or student — will be integrated.
At the same time, the University plans to reach out to community organizations that could use some of the space freed up in the library. “The goal is to have the greatest relevance to what the neighborhood needs and in line with our mission,” says Louis-Sébastien Guimond.
Learning district
This openness to the community is part of a broader vision, put forward by Vice-Rector Ananian, aimed at making the Latin Quarter a “learning district”. A concept — little known — designating a place where “we learn throughout life”, whether through scientific knowledge or civic knowledge, acquired inside or outside the walls of institutions, in a logic of social reintegration.
“The Latin Quarter has the potential to become the first learning district in Canada,” emphasizes Mme Ananian. A name inspired by that of “learning cities” recognized by UNESCO. The “library axis” (UQAM, BAnQ, Cégep du Vieux Montréal) that crosses the district would thus be put to good use.
“The idea is to create territorial coordination between community organizations, knowledge institutions and cultural sites to develop training or services that are intended primarily for the local population, but not only,” explains the vice-rector.
The UQAM library could thus become a link between university life and urban life by hosting, for example, French language courses or other types of training open to the community.
Timeline
In addition to institutional funding, a philanthropic campaign is underway to raise funds to make the Métamorphose project a reality. A call for tenders for the design of the project should be launched in the coming months. “If all goes well, we should break ground in late 2025-early 2026,” says Mr. Guimond.
UQAM does not plan to close its library to carry out this project, but rather to carry out the work in phases. “Our university is directly anchored in the neighbourhood. We are embedded in the city,” notes M.me Ananian. A pledge, according to her, of the upcoming success of the Metamorphosis project.