Bibliothèque de Pointe-Claire

I don’t like coming here. It’s not that the book collection is small, building is outdated, service user unfriendly. I could live with that. Really, it is because the atmosphere here is so cold and unwelcoming and just so old-​school. Librarians adopt a «children should be seen and not heard» mentality. Heaven forbid your toddler or preschooler demonstrates excitement to be at the library. You will incur nasty looks or overhear their passive aggressive comments about your children. I am sure the play area was moved to the back of the building away from the front desk for this very reason.
We were scolded by a librarian once when we selected a board game from the shelves and opened it to look at the contents and read the instructions. «You are not permitted to play with the toys and games in the library. There are signs posted everywhere,» she said sternly.
I have been a member of top state of the art public libraries in the U.S. that welcome young readers with open arms by trying to instill an early love of reading. Such libraries have half-​height shelves where young children can easily reach books, small chairs and tables for reading, and drop-​in story times that are open to everyone (that you don’t need to pre-​register for, commit to for weeks in advance, or even notify them if you cannot attend). These libraries have scanning machines conveniently located all throughout the library, have free Wifi, and actually scan every single item in the collection.
There are many, many ways in which this library could be improved. Librarians act as though they do not want you to read or even touch the books in the collection. Many of the children’s books are labelled inside the front cover with stickers that say «PLEASE WASH YOUR HANDS before you read me and KEEP ME CLEAN». I don’t even know where to begin with this and I’ve never seen this at other libraries — it’s all understood that you keep the collection orderly and neat.
One time I watched as a man in his late 20’s entered the library without taking his winter boots off [he obviously did not see the signs posted near the front door]. He immediately got reprimanded harshly by a librarian. «Geez, chill! It’s my first time here!» he retorted. I wouldn’t be surprised if he never returned a second time.
Unfortunately, it’s sad but I will be happy to move on to bigger, better, and friendlier libraries.