A Community Study of the Bibliothèque Saint-Jean

Denis Lacroix

March 11, 2003

	Executive Summary

XML version Reflective Paper Note to the Readers Executive Summary Introduction Context Setting Methodology/Data Sources Institutional Goals, Objectives, and Priorities Library Collections The Library's Environment and Demographics Conclusion Appendix One - History of the BSJ Appendix Two - Research Methodology Appendix Three - Survey Appendix Four - Results Endnotes Bibliography

The Bibliothèque Saint-Jean (BSJ) is an academic library located within the instructional setting of the Faculté Saint-Jean (FSJ), a branch campus of the main University of Alberta campus, and within the organizational framework of the University of Alberta Library. The BSJ is six kilometres away from its parent institution, which limits attendance by other main university users. Users are divided into three categories:

primary users: 66 faculty members and 545 students, 88 of which are graduate students in the Master's of education and Canadian studies programs, at the FSJ
secondary users: teachers in francophone and immersion schools in Edmonton and throughout Alberta; however, the eighty teachers in the Edmonton francophone schools are the principal users surveyed in this study
tertiary users: the general francophone public in Edmonton (21 220 people), of which only 11 034 people are literate in French, 7 075 people speak French at home, and the number of people 65 and older is increasing

The library's mission is to provide its primary and secondary users with French resources that support their research endeavours. It fits within the overarching mission of the parent institution which focuses on the user as a learner and emphasizes information literacy, along with quality innovative products and services and informational partnerships.

The BSJ's internal collection consists of 210 000 documents spread out over five main sections:

the general collection: fine arts and humanities, social sciences, education, and natural sciences (for a total of 74 735 documents)
the pedagogical section: curriculum support materials (53 812 documents)
microforms: mostly Western Canadian francophone periodicals (30 000 documents)
special collections: Alberta Heritage and Oblates of Mary Immaculate fonds (17 440 items)
the BARD collection: documents stored off-site (14 000 documents)

The BSJ's external resources are composed of consortial agreements with other libraries, which give access to interlibrary loan privileges and electronic resource sharing. Many FSJ-related and community-based organizations are also good sources of information and constitute potential resource-sharing partners. Recommendations are to foster community partnerships, improve electronic access to information especially in regards to digitized special collections, and establish an up-to-date collection.