The importance of libraries underlined at the National Assembly

Libraries are transforming more and more quickly. Quite recently, we launched the Declaration of Quebec Libraries, to be seen on the site "My library, I'm going".

A Declaration of Quebec Libraries 

On October 19, the Minister of Culture and Communications of Quebec, Mr. Luc Fortin, officially filed to the National Assembly the “Declaration of Quebec Libraries”.

A website dedicated to the Declaration has also been online on this occasion. One can find there the full text of the Declaration as well as short testimonies of several well-known personalities on the importance of the library - India Desjardins, for example, which is particularly fun.

We often forget it, but libraries are certainly one of the most important places of education, along with school. These are also among those places that play an educational role for a very long time in someone's life. In many cities, the library is by far the most popular cultural venue, well ahead of theaters and theaters.

The Declaration recalls that "far from being a simple lending counter and the reading room of yesteryear, libraries are redefining themselves today as living spaces," third places "between the world of work and that of family, places where we like to spend time, learn and share expertise and experiences ”. It also reaffirms “the essential contribution of libraries to the social vitality, economic prosperity and cultural richness of Quebec society”.

At the heart of the most current social issues

Space for learning the pleasure of reading, training space, support space in job search, integration space for new Quebecers - libraries are more than ever at the heart of the most current social issues in the world. Quebec. In 2014, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) even declared that by contributing to increased access to information and knowledge and by supporting universal literacy, libraries were an essential pillar of development. sustainable.

Libraries continue to transform, and faster and faster! By integrating digital technologies of course, but also by redefining the way they operate in certain settings, including primary and secondary schools.

This is the subject of a document entitled The XXI school library^e century: a 4-axis model, which was published on November 6 on the website of the Association for the Promotion of School Documentary Services (APSDS).