Bibliotheque Gabrielle Roy

This building was opened in 1983 and saw 800,000 visits last year.  It is named for a Canadian female writer.  The library is a part of a network of 25 libraries.  They automated on a Sirsi Unicorn system in Aug of 2005 and are also connected with the Laval University, which is also a Sirsi Unicorn library. 

The welcome center is where people check out and return their materials.  The library has a 283-seat auditorium that will be demolished this summer and rebuilt along with a new parking structure.  Just past the welcome center is an area of the library where journals and newspapers can be read and some computer access is available.  It is open at 9 am for early users, while the remainder of the library opens at 10 AM.

The library reminded me of the Lincoln Library in Springfield with a large open atrium area in the center with a fountain and sculpture and a hanging sculpture titled Golden Rain.

The first floor is the periodical center and the children’s area.  The children’s area has a small theater-type room where they can hold films and other programming for children.  There are several computers with headphones for them to use. 

The second floor is reference and non-fiction materials plus the art collection.  CD’s, fiction videos and art works can be borrowed for a fee; all other materials are free.  They had a 14-page guide to how to use the online catalog with screen shots by each public access computer.  The videos and audio books on non-fiction topics are intershelved with the nonfiction books.

As with any good library they have brochures for programs, hours of all the libraries in the system, and the fee schedule.  There were bookmarks for fiction genres including “Policier, Historique, Amour, Erotisme, and Merveilleux.”  There was a bookmark highlighting Quebec authors and one “Vous Aimez Lire (If you like) Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt Suggestions de Lecture” (suggestions for reading).  They were all in French of course.    

	“The Art collection and can be checked out."
“Signage for the library”
	“A table in the reference area.”

The public access computers that the public can use for internet access, word processing, etc. can be used 2 hours per week and are tied to the patron’s library card that they scan themselves to gain computer access.  The computers are not filtered. There is a strict code and the computers are situated so that they can be viewed by the staff.  If someone is found viewing inappropriate materials, they are stopped and forfeit their computer time.  The computers in the children’s area are filtered.

There is a computer lab where people can learn how to use various software and they can work on homework etc.  Papers or information from the Internet can be printed for a fee.  A language lab is available where patrons can learn or practice speaking 33 different languages.

The public computers are housed on the third floor where there is also an extensive audiovisual area.  The library has TVs and listening stations are set up.  Patrons can select a video or CD and take it to the audiovisual department.  They assign you a station, give you a pair of headsets and play the video for you to watch right in the library.  A person can view one video per day. 

We were not able to see tech services as they were just moved to a building two blocks from the library.  They are just finishing up the process of merging eight separate technical services departments into one—a task that has been daunting.  One challenge is to work out how to purchase materials more efficiently with one specialist in a particular area buying for the entire library system.

Bev Obert, RPLS Executive Director