Funny that this should be so high on my list of favourite Montreal things. Until two months ago the libraries of Montreal were such a sorry scene that I might have become an habitué of Chapters or Indigo books or Paragraph bookstore -- Montreal's free market alternative to libraries. This all changed January 1st, 2002 with municipal amalgamation.

It was not long after this date that I was before the borrowing desk at the Westmount Library applying for my own library card with all its attendant privileges (and responsibilities). More than 15 years earlier I was for a brief time actually a resident of Westmount. At that time I remember being challenged as to whether my Sherbrooke St. address was, in fact, in Westmount or whether I was some sort of poseur wanting to up my social status with a Westmount library card all the while maintaining a humble student apartment in NDG. (Some librarians just read too much and see a potential plot in every applicants story). That wary librarian looking down on me in more youthful days could not have foreseen a plot twist that would in these latter days see Westmount amalgamating (to their great dismay) with all of the other cities on the island into one great city of Montreal.

Fortunately, this library will always be distinguished from the lesser "City of Montreal" libraries because of the attachment that its users feel to its rather unique qualities. You can't have a coffee with your book but you can sit and read on a park bench in the attached greenhouse. It's a bit like stepping off the plane into to some tropical part of the world. Inside the older part of the building, the green leather-upholstered chairs snuggle up to the old-fashioned radiators. If that's not enough to make you feel comfortable, pull up a stool under your feet and fall asleep if you must. For sure, on the shelves you are quite likely to find the author that you're looking for. My experience at various city of Montreal branches is that the English language book that you are looking for is only to be found at the Point-aux-Trembles branch, or, at the Montreal Centrale branch, you will be informed that the book is in off-site storage and will only come out if ordered in advance for $1 a book.

At the Westmount library there are little touches, too, that make the whole experience more pleasant. Like the way that recently returned books are laid out in a wooden stand specifically designed so that patrons can make their selections from these "more likely to be popular choices" before the student help refiles them back to their hiding places. I've decided to do my writing at this library on my Palm with portable keyboard, but laptop use is greatly facilitated by the power and network outlets at each desk. I'll have to find out if it is a high-speed network connection -- could be a good place to do the occasional ftp.

This is really too nice of a place for a mere one hour visit every three weeks. I am planning to make it my regular workplace as I embark on a very fledgling writing career. As I look at the names of poets, authors and philosophers inscribed on the windows tall above me I will aspire, here, to think my own thoughts, to listen to God and to write in my time a testimony to something timeless.

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