Libraries through the lens Westmount Public Library near Montreal, Canada


ON this cold (and concerning) beginning of the year, librarian and photographer Thomas Guignard is looking for somewhere to warm up, he is reminded of the Westmount Public Library. He said: “This independent municipality in Greater Montreal was the first in Quebec to take advantage of a law enabling the establishment of municipal public libraries.” The handsome library designed in Richardsonian Romanesque style by local architect Robert Findlay opened in 1899.


Spring 2025


Several extensions followed in the next decades. In 1927, a palm house was add- ed in the courtyard between the library and the nearby Victoria Hall. The elegant Victorian steel and glass structure was built by Lord & Burnham, a US company that was specialising in greenhouses and conservatories in North America. Thomas adds: “In 1995, the latest extension to the Westmount library was added by noted Montreal architect Peter Rose. Replacing a 1960s structure, the Rose extension includes a bright reading


room, whose generous windows open to the yard where the conservatory stands. “This image was taken a few minutes before opening time to respect patron privacy, but shortly thereafter, readers filed in to enjoy a book by the window, some clearly with their favourite spots. “Recently renovated and directly con- nected to the library, the conservatory itself is another favourite spot for locals, who can escape the cold Montreal winter for a few warm hours under a palm tree, away from it all.”


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