As of Dec. 3, the public library in Fort-Coulonge is closed after 55 years of service. The municipal council has been considering the option for the last 5-6 years.

Christine Francoeur, Fort-Coulonge mayor, told THE EQUITY that this was not an easy decision to take.

The cost of the public library, which was part of Réseau Biblio Outaouais, was around $38,000 annually, with service being used by roughly 5 per cent of the town’s population. The internet services were actually more popular than the library itself, according to Francouer.

Lise Romain, the councillor responsible for the library in council, voted against the proposal. Romain mentioned that COVID-19 restrictions didn’t help the situation and that the level of frequentation was low.

Romain, who herself worked at the École secondaire Sieur-de-Coulonge library for a long time, feels that every village should have a library.

Fort-Coulonge is not the first town to close their public library primarily because of the fairly high costs. Seven other municipalities in the Pontiac do not have a library or are not part of Réseau Biblio Outaouais network.

Sylvie Thibault, general director of Réseau Biblio Outaouais, was sorry to see the closure of the Fort-Coulonge public library. She mentioned that a modern library is a centre to promote art and culture with various activities and services as well as a library.

Réseau Biblio Outaouais encouraged the town of Fort-Coulonge to develop an agreement with Mansfield-et-Pontefract to partner and offer an even better library services in one location.

Without a partnership, no citizen of Fort-Coulonge is allowed to be a member of the Mansfield-et-Pontefract public library.

Discussions are already underway between the two municipalities to see if there is a benefit to a partnership in sharing a public library.

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