The main mission of the BSJ has always been to serve the professors and the students of the Faculté Saint-Jean (FSJ), where it is presently located. However, its virtual information walls extend far beyond the boundaries of the library room. The BSJ reaches forward to the University of Alberta community and its resources, as well as to other cooperative partners and to some respect the francophone community at large. Its history dates back to 1969. Since then the BSJ developed a multifaceted collection.

The general BSJ collection is diverse and extensive. The main stacks hold 74 735 documents, to which one must add 1 886 reference documents, 643 microforms, 5 546 periodical titles, 956 audiovisual materials, and 10 031 official publications. As for the Special Collections room, it houses 17 440 catalogued and non-catalogued documents. Space for seven percent of the BSJ's total 210 000 documents is made possible by the University of Alberta's Book and Record Depository (BARD). The BSJ's collection is superior to the Alfred Monnin library at the Saint-Boniface University College, a comparable institution to the FSJ, by 60 000 documents (Larouche "Personal Interview").

The pedagogical and youth literature collection is aimed at not only the FSJ community, but also at all who work in the French as first (FFL) or second language (FSL) sectors in Alberta or elsewhere (University "Au sujet"). Since 1993, the BSJ has expanded its resource focus to include all French-taught subjects in francophone and immersion schools. This section now comprises 53 965 documents and gives access to over 390 periodical subscriptions (Larouche Bibliothèque 7).

The BSJ's historical commitment to serving FSJ community and Alberta Francophone Teachers, as well as its responsibility to preserve Western French-Canadian history and to collaborate with information organizations, has provided the incentive to study the exact nature of the BSJ's relationship with its community and to find implications for the development of its collections. The potential lack of space for the growth of the library's collection is also a concern, to which the community may offer solutions. The library wants to continue to offer a solid French research resource to all its users and build on the strengths of its collection: diversity, preservation, and collaboration.