The question is more complex than it seems. Theoretically, public libraries belong to the majority. But let’s refine it all the same since the question is posed bluntly, and even doubly these days. Firstly because the City of Montreal is seriously juggling with the idea of expelling and fining certain users whose hygiene is considered questionable. Then because the report card from Quebec public libraries made it possible to take the full measure of their disastrous rating — 30%! — in terms of living forces, a gap which puts their accessibility to the test.
We already knew that the Quebec network displayed profound regional disparities and an overall average barely exceeding the passing grade (64% compared to 66% in the previous bulletin). Certainly, the Legault government has kept its promise: the collections have been significantly improved. The result for acquisitions improved by 13%. But 588,298 more printed books would have had to be purchased to achieve the expected level of excellence. That puts things into perspective.
Especially since this salutary start does not in any way redeem the disenchantment experienced by human resources in this sensitive cultural sector. We are talking about gaping holes here: a little more than 2,500 positions outstanding in total (including 475 librarians), or two thirds of the staff needed to form ideal contingents. In 13 out of 17 regions, the number of librarians is so low that the index is 1, the lowest on the quality scale used.
The lack of interest in these specialized professions endangers the long-term mission of these essential institutions. We urgently need to promote them, and by all possible means. In its manifesto on the public library, UNESCO defends the need to ensure the vitality of these allies of small and large municipalities which, by offering “free and unlimited access to knowledge, thought, culture and information”, help to shape “more equitable, humane and sustainable societies”.
One in three Quebecers uses our public libraries. Visits there are calculated annually in the millions. It is not for nothing that these institutions have bet big in recent years on their vocation as third places, transforming their formerly cold and austere spaces into accessible and inclusive landmarks, sometimes playful, sometimes educational. This momentum towards others, all others, starting with immigrants and the most vulnerable among us, is a blessing.
Faced with polarization, the meteoric rise in isolation, the digital divide and social breakdown, our towns and villages are in great need of open and neutral territories to tighten the meshes of the social net. Anyone who visits one of the city’s 45 public libraries can easily see that there are more single and homeless people than ever coming to seek a little warmth and meaning.
It remains that sacrosanct accessibility is not only measured in attendance, it is also a matter of sensitivity, where comfort and security must be acquired by everyone. The needs of the majority cannot be subordinated to the extravagances of a few. Mayor Valérie Plante is right to want to act on the hygiene and behavior problems which seem to be multiplying and intensifying. But she’s doing it wrong. Expelling and distributing fines are means that have repeatedly shown their ineffectiveness in addition to feeding the hydra of social segregation.
There is also nothing to be gained by going to the other end of the spectrum. Transforming our public libraries into organized shelters is unthinkable. Rather, we must make it clear to those whose job it is to intervene with these vulnerable populations that their too narrow vision of their role and their poor use of resources feeds a vicious circle that must be broken. Is this message going wrong? It will have to be repeated, because it is fundamental.
And so that the expression “persona grata” retains its meaning in our public libraries, we will need to better equip them, in terms of expertise and resources. There is a fruitful dialogue to continue with the Association of Public Libraries of Quebec. She wrote an interesting dissertation which pushes the logic of the third place further by recognizing the library as a reference in social work. The formula, born in the United States, is attractive and applies wonderfully to the Quebec context. Colleague Stéphane Baillargeon also recounted last year how the hiring of a street intervention professional allowed miracles to happen at the Drummondville municipal library.
It is this logic of “everyone wins, no one loses” that must be reproduced to allow our libraries to continue their beneficial transformation. 40 years ago, the Vaugeois plan provided the necessary impetus for the creation of the network as we know it. Its challenges today are completely different and certainly no less great. We are ripe for a second Vaugeois plan.