During the visit of the first floor, I noticed a study room with glass walls. Inside a man sat, concentrated, in front of a notebook and a large, colorful candy jar which immediately caught my attention. Our guide explained that he was Mathieu Blais, the current “writer-in-residence”[2]. Writers who participate in this project “find the library and its users to be very inspiring for their writing,” said Martin Dubois, manager of library services of the City of Longueuil. “The residence also prompts them to be very disciplined because they have to respect the agreed schedules and to be in the room. They are less distracted than being at home” [3].

Mathieu Blais, writer-in-residence at work. Photo Courtesy of Corrado Di Tillio.

The project was launched five years ago by the Conseil des Arts de Longueuil, an institution which supports the development and promotion of arts (literature included) in Longueuil. The Raymond-Lévesque Public Library is a natural partner, together with a local bookstore, ALire, which provides a grant to the author. By the way, “partnerships” was the topic of this year’s MetLib Conference. After attending many presentations which explored how “almost anyone can be a partner” in Québec and in other regions of the world [4], I could then see with my eyes a real ongoing partnership.

Writers respond to a call for proposals which are examined by a jury. In addition to the 25 hours per week in the library during a two month period, the writer also commits to a series of activities, such as seminars about literary writing. “Not all the authors are comfortable interacting with people […]” Dubois said. “Users are often shy to meet the author because they are afraid of bothering him”. [5]

And the candies? “They are my source of inspiration,” Blais said to me.

References

[1] Regarding its space for teens (“Soda”) read Sarah-Ann Brisson, Teens at the Brossard Public Library: A Necessary Adaptation of Space and Services, in “Feliciter”, Issue #6, December 2014, vol. 60, p.23-25.

[2] Mathieu Blais was born in Montréal in 1979. His website is http://mathieublais.ca

[3] Martin Dubois’ e-mail to the author, July 19, 2017.

[4] Quotation by Kimber L. Fender, from her presentation Howdy partner! Developing library/community partnerships, delivered on May 2, 2017. All the presentations are available at http://metlib2017montreal.org/en/downloads/ . The IFLA MetLib Conference is the annual conference of the IFLA Section on Metropolitan Libraries.

[5] Martin Dubois’ e-mail to the author, July 19, 2017.

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