Saint-Sulpice Library

The Saint-Sulpice Library is an historic building located at 1700 Saint Denis Street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a Historic Monument of Quebec in 1988. At the dawn of the 20th century, the political elite and religious leaders of Montreal recognized the need for creating a new francophone library that would elevate the education level of the population. The selection of books offered by the Cabinet de lecture paroissiale, previously created by the Sulpicians, was becoming obsolete and outdated for the time according to critics. The Sulpicians initiated the construction of a new library on Saint-Denis Street to offer Montrealers better readings combining part of their own collections with the ones owned by Université Laval à Montréal (Université de Montréal). The Saint-Sulpice Library was intended primarily for students, scholars and academics but also for Catholics seeking self-education. Designed by architect Eugène Payette, the Saint-Sulpice Library is considered one of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture in the province. Built between 1912 and 1914, the building opened as a private library operated by the Society of Saint-Sulpice in 1917. It was notably the first French-language library in the nation of Canada. While the library was built by Eugene Payette, the Sulpicians hired a professional librarian Aegidius Fauteux, for conserving and develo

Library data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).