BAnQ

The Library and National Archives of Quebec, known as La Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), is located at two separate locations in Montreal. The main library building (La Grande Bibliothèque) is situated in a sprawling, modern facility near the Berri-UQAM metro stop. The Archives de Montréal, one of the BAnQ’s ten archival centers in Quebec, is located on Viger Street in Old Montreal.

Click here to see what materials the archives contain: http://www.banq.qc.ca/archives/

Quebec’s Heritage Collection, known as La Collection Nationale, is kept in in two highly-controlled wood-paneled areas within the Grande Bibliothèque. Some of these precious materials are available for public viewing, but only on-the-spot. Click here for more information about this collection:

http://www.banq.qc.ca/collections/collections_patrimoniales/collection_nationale/

BAnQ’s vast collection include dossiers from the birth of New France in 1604 onward, and many other books and documents of interest to genealogists with Québecois ancestors.

Many of BAnQ’s  resources can be accessed online by anyone, anywhere, for free; other resources require a subscription. However, the family history section is available only in French.

http://www.banq.qc.ca/archives/genealogie_histoire_familiale/ressources/bd/index.html?language_id=3

When an English version of a page is available, you can click on the box in the upper right hand of the page for English. If a page is only available in French, you can copy and paste the text you don’t understand into an online translation tool such as Google Translate.

Membership at BAnQ is free to Quebecers, and available to anyone else for a subscription fee. However, only Quebecers can subscribe to online services requiring a log-in. When you join BAnQ, you will be given a membership card with a number on the back that can be used to log into library services online at MY ACCOUNT or to borrow books, view multimedia, etc. on-site.

Non-residents of Quebec can nevertheless join BAnQ and subscribe to all services by paying for a subscription ($50 for three months, $100 for a year). However, online access to digital resources requiring login, including the borrowing of e-books, is granted only to subscribers who reside in Quebec. You can find all rates by clicking Here.

To find out how to join the BanQ from a distance, or to ask any other question, see this page: http://www.banq.qc.ca/outils/nous_joindre/index.html

BAnQ’s collection includes books in the English language about the people of the British Isles, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, the Baltic States, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, France, Poland and other countries of Eastern Europe. Once subscribers have obtained their BAnQ subscriber’s card, they can take home as many as 25 books or CDs.

About the BAnQ

Some 8,000 daily visitors or 46,000 visitors per week visit this superb repository of books, documents and CDs that opened in 2005.

Approximately four million books or CDs are borrowed every year from the Grande Bibliothèque de Montréal.

In excess of two million books can be read on location or borrowed at this repository.

Click on the link below for detailed information on all the services that a BANQ subscription has to offer, including access to collections and equipment offered on-site at the Grande Bibliothèque, at BAnQ Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie and at the BAnQ archives facilities, and to use online services that require a log-in.

 www.banq.qc.ca/services/pret/carte/index.html?language_id=1

The Grande Bibliothèque is closed on Mondays and open 8am to 10pm on weekdays and 8am to 6 pm on weekends. For more detailed information, click here:

http://www.banq.qc.ca/aide/information_generale/faq/index.html?language_id=1

BAnQ  475, boulevard De Maisonneuve Est (Berri-UQAM metro stop)
Montréal (Québec) H2L 5C4

Telephone: 514 873-1100 (Montréal region)
or 1 800 363-9028 (elsewhere in Québec)
http://www.banq.qc.ca/accueil/

For more information, consult these posts on the Genealogy Ensemble blog:

https://genealogyensemble.com/2018/09/30/using-the-banqs-pistard-to-research-your-ancestors-life/

https://genealogyensemble.com/2018/09/16/searching-the-banq-for-books-and-documents/