BAnQ Saint-Sulpice

A human scale innovation hub

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) is all at once a national library, a national archive, the public library of a major city, and a virtual library that can be accessed anywhere in the world. Its goal is to bring together, preserve, and promote heritage materials from or related to Québec.

BAnQ is a cultural hub, working to make knowledge available to all and ensure that Québec’s documentary heritage can find a wide audience throughout the province and the world.

BAnQ figures for 2019 show:

  • Close to 2.2 million visits to physical locations and 7 million virtual visits
  • 2.9 million print books and 390,000 e-books
  • 700,000 audio-visual documents
  • 67 kilometres of textual archives
  • 16 million graphic documents
  • Close to 18 million files from heritage collections available online
  • 5.8 million documents borrowed

Bibliothèque Saint-Sulpice: a short history

  • 1915: Inauguration
  • 1941: Acquired by the Québec government
  • 1967: Bibliothèque nationale du Québec is established
  • 1988: Classified as a heritage building
  • 2005: Building is closed
  • 2016: Recycling project begins

A Beaux-Arts style building

  • Built aera: 3 700 m2 (12 140 sq ft)
  • Operational area: 2 950 m2 (9 680 sq ft)
  • Outdoor space: 1 125 m2 (3 690 sq ft)

BAnQ Saint-Sulpice : an innovation hub on human scale

Mission

To contribute to the development of Montréal and Québec society by helping people create and share knowledge, become confident in using technology, get new ideas, and carry out individual and group projects

Programming with focus on four areas

  • Education : Welcoming groups
  • Inclusiveness : Supporting users with specific needs
  • Social innovation : Fostering new ideas to help change and improve society
  • Entrepreneurship : Providing support and partnership for organizations working to mentor the next generation