Article content continued

Photo by John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

Popular with students at nearby universities, researchers and ordinary readers, it also has other users. Quebec’s employment ministry has a space set aside for job-seeking immigrants. The province’s music archives are in the building, as well as an amphitheatre and a language lab. There’s a basement exhibition hall, currently home to Night at the Museum, a virtual reality tour of 10 great libraries that has attracted national attention.

Its location, at the intersection of three subway lines, is part of the magic.

John MacLeod, a semi-retired cable installer, visits five or six times a week to read English-language periodicals and borrow CDs. It takes him 12 minutes to get to the library by subway. “It’s good in the winter. You don’t even have to come outdoors.”

Jessica Devivier, a PhD student in medical anthropology at the Université de Montréal, uses only the national library portion of the building, where she combs through newspapers for reports on vaccinations. Sometimes she spends 20 hours a week there. “I like to discover history,” she says.

The National Librarian and Archivist of Canada Guy Berthiaume has proposed a partnership with the Ottawa Public Library. He brings experience gained during his five-year tenure as chair and chief executive in Montreal. The Citizen asked him about what he sees for a partnership in Ottawa.

Q: Why did you want to partner with the Ottawa Public Library?

Photo by Julie Oliver / Ottawa Citizen

A: When I first got here 19 months ago, I learned that they were looking to move the central library. And I figured this a great opportunity for us. Although the Library and Archives building is well-situated between the Supreme Court and the War Museum, it’s still a difficult destination. People keep telling me there’s not enough parking. I wanted to have a strong presence here at 395 Wellington. Still, it’s not a destination and it would be a challenge to create one. If we moved into a place with a least a million visitors a year, it’s a great opportunity for us. If it’s an iconic building, if it’s not too far from here, it would be great. The idea is to go where the people are.