Ville-Marie’s first microlibrary inaugurated

Sustainable, versatile urban furniture blending form and function 

The design for Ville-Marie borough’s first self-serve microlibrary, newly installed in Square Cabot right beside the Atwater métro entrance, was the result of an ideas contest.

The winning design, Les pigeonniers (“pigeonholes”), was submitted by the Montréal urban design collective ALLLY, comprising Frédérique Allard, Marine Lecardeur, Marine Ledoux-Lebard and Jean-Jacques Yervant; the finished product is a signature project designed by young Montrealers and fully compliant with safety and accessibility standards.

The project not only generated participation by Montrealers, with more than 40 models submitted; it also forged community connections: architecture, design and urban development firm Rayside-Labossière gave lectures and workshops on model design and also produced the construction drawings for the winning design.

This initiative of the Frontenac and Père-Ambroise libraries received support from the Ville de Montréal’s Bureau du design and Direction des Bibliothèques under the Entente sur le développement culturel de Montréal. Its implementation is part of a program that targets architecture and design awareness activities provided for citizens of all ages within the city’s library network, and contributes to affirming Montréal’s status as a UNESCO City of Design.