The (; ; abbr. BAnQ) is a

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

government agency which manages the province's

legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

system,

national archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

, and

national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

. Located at the

Grande Bibliothèque The Grande Bibliothèque () is a public library in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its collection is part of (BAnQ), Quebec's national library. Membership in the library is free to all residents of Quebec. It has some 10,000 users per day ...

in Montreal, the BAnQ was created by the merging of the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec and the Archives nationales du Québec in 2006. The Bibliothèque nationale du Québec had previously merged with the Grande Bibliothèque du Québec in 2002.

History

The National Archives of Quebec (, ANQ) were founded on 2 September 1920, with Pierre-Georges Roy as Quebec's first Head Archivist. The purpose of the institution was to process historical materials, more specifically public archives and the Quebec government's archives, and to collect documents pertaining to the history of Quebec. the ANQ were brought under the jurisdiction of the Department of Cultural Affairs in 1961, and renamed the Archives de la province de Québec in 1963. On 12 August 1967, the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

legislated to establish the National Library of Quebec (, BNQ), an institution that would also come under the Department of Cultural Affairs. The BNQ held the collections and furniture of the Bibliothèque Saint-Sulpice, founded by the Sulpician Order in 1915 and managed by the

Government of Quebec The Government of Quebec (, ) is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The term is typically used to refer to the executive of the day (i.e. Minister of the Crown, mini ...

since 1941. In 1968, the provincial regulation on legal deposit came into effect requiring that Quebec publishers deposit with the BNQ two copies of their printed works, including books, brochures, newspapers, magazines and journals, artists' books and musical scores. In 1992, a regulation of the National Assembly expanded legal deposit to original prints, posters, art work reproductions, postcards, sound recordings ( microgroove vinyl records, compact discs, and more), software, electronic documents, and

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

. In 1997, the idea of creating a

was born out of the desire to provide widespread availability to the materials of the BNQ and of the

Montreal Public Libraries Network The Montreal Public Libraries Network ( , previously ''Réseau des bibliothèques publiques de Montréal'') is the public library system on the Island of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. It is the largest French language public library system in North ...

. The institution founded to create a major public library, called the Grande bibliothèque du Québec (GBQ), was merged with the BNQ in 2002. The new entity pursued the acquisition, preservation and promotion of the national collection, and the acquisition and promotion of the circulating collection for the general public. The construction work of the Grande Bibliothèque took place from 2001 to 2004 in downtown Montreal, and the collections of the Montreal Library, the circulating collections of the BNQ and the new acquisitions were placed on the shelves of the Grande Bibliothèque in Fall 2004. The Grande Bibliothèque was formally inaugurated on 29 April 2005, and it began its operations on 3 May 2005. On 31 January 2006, the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec and the Archives nationales du Québec merged to become the . Following a data breach in 2021 of a related provider, several of BAnQ's online offerings were taken offline.

Collection

The library's collection includes

copies of all works printed in Quebec, concerning Quebec, or written or contributed to by an author from Quebec.

Facilities

BAnQ carries out its mandate in twelve facilities which are open to the public: the

, BAnQ Vieux-Montréal and BAnQ Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie in Montreal; BAnQ Gaspé, BAnQ Gatineau, BAnQ Québec, BAnQ Rimouski, BAnQ Rouyn-Noranda, BAnQ Saguenay, BAnQ Sept-Îles, BAnQ Sherbrooke and BAnQ Trois-Rivières. Located in the ''Quartier Latin'', in the heart of Montreal, the Grande Bibliothèque is the flagship library facility of the . This major public library was specifically designed to encourage the discovery and exploration of BAnQ's collections with free and open access. Materials from the universal collection are available for circulation while rarer documents such as most of the legal deposit collection can be consulted on site. The building, each of its six levels fostering a different atmosphere, opened to the public in 2005. Its patrons include scholars and the general public alike. It welcomes close to 50,000 visitors each week.

Mission

The mission of is to gather, permanently preserve and promote Quebec's published heritage materials, any Quebec-related material of cultural interest, and any Quebec-related material published outside Quebec. It aims to provide democratic access to the heritage material constituted by its collections, to culture and universal knowledge, and to act, in this respect, as a catalyst for the library and information institutions of Quebec, thus contributing to the fulfillment of its citizens. BAnQ also aims to provide structure, support and advise public bodies regarding the management of their materials, ensure the preservation of public archives, make them more accessible and boost their visibility. The institution is also responsible for promoting the preservation and accessibility of private archives. To this end, BAnQ carries out the responsibilities provided under the Archives Act. In the archival field, the institution can also provide research support services and contribute to the development and international outreach of Quebec heritage materials and expertise. BAnQ serves as the official representative of the Agence francophone pour la numérotation internationale du livre regarding the assignment of

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. A different ISBN is assigned to e ...

prefixes in Quebec and Canada.

National library

BAnQ is responsible for acquiring, processing, preserving and highlighting the heritage collections. These collections bring together the entire production of printed materials in Quebec, mostly through

, and of Quebec-related materials. The Preservation Branch (Direction générale de la conservation) which handles this aspect of the institution's mission, operates out of BAnQ Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, in Montreal. Designed to ensure the long-term preservation of the materials stored there, the facility also houses BAnQ's head office. Patrons can access the heritage collections' materials in the reading room of the Collection nationale, located in the

. The special collections, however, can be viewed on site at BAnQ Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie.

National archives

carries out its activities in the archival field through 10 regional facilities: BAnQ Vieux-Montréal, BAnQ Québec, BAnQ Gaspé, BAnQ Gatineau, BAnQ Rimouski, BAnQ Saguenay, BAnQ Sherbrooke, BAnQ Trois-Rivières, BAnQ Rouyn-Noranda and BAnQ Sept-Îles. The Montreal facility is housed in the

Gilles Hocquart Building The Gilles Hocquart building is at 535 Viger Avenue East in the Quartier Latin of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This building was named in honor of Gilles Hocquart, fourteenth Intendant of New France who played an important role in safeguardin ...

, formerly the

HEC Montréal HEC Montréal (; English: ''High Commercial Studies of Montreal'') is a bilingual public business school located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1907, HEC Montréal is the graduate business school of the Université de Montréal and is ...

building, on Avenue Viger. The Quebec City facility is located in the Louis-Jacques-Casault pavilion on the

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

campus.

Digitized collection

BAnQ operates a web portal, BAnQ numérique, to distribute its digitized collections of books and newspapers.

References

External links

*
Les gens de Québec appelés en renfort pour enrichir Wikipedia
Sur les 2 millions d'articles francophones disponibles dans l'encyclopédie collaborative Wikipédia, à peine 16 300 sont associés au Québec
Radio Canada
février 2018.(French)
Il y a 20 ans, Wikipédia bouleversait notre relation au savoir
L’encyclopédie en ligne Wikipédia est-elle suffisamment fiable et rigoureuse
Radio Canada
janvier 2021. (French) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bibliotheque Et Archives Nationales Du Quebec 1967 establishments in Quebec Libraries in Montreal Crown corporations of Quebec Libraries established in 1967 Deposit libraries

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Archives in Quebec