History

Who is Louise Lalonde Lamarre?

Since May 2016, the library is called Louise-Lalonde-Lamarre Library.

Louise Lalonde was born in Montréal in 1929. Her father, an engineer, headed the consulting engineering firm Lalonde et Valois. Louise had just finished her nursing studies when, in 1950, she met Bernard Lamarre, a young engineering student from Polytechnique. Louise is passionate about art history and introduces Bernard to this field. They married in 1952, Bernard's promotion year. From their union are born seven children: Jean, Christine, Lucie, Monique, Michèle, Philippe and Mireille. Michèle, Po 82, and Philippe, Po 85, will study engineering at Polytechnique.

Louise Lalonde LamarreBernard Lamarre and Louise Lalonde Lamarre are passionate about the development of the art collection of Lavalin, the company that Bernard runs. The couple supports many artists from here and elsewhere in addition to supporting the development of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. In 1992, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal acquired most of the works in the Lavalin collection. Louise Lalonde Lamarre died in 2002. Member of the Board of the Corporation de l'École Polytechnique from 1987 to 1992, then Chairman of the Board from 2002 to 2012, Bernard Lamarre left us in March 2016. The Lamarre family made a major donation to Polytechnique in 2016 and also bequeaths a work by the artist Pascal Dufaux to the Library. By giving the name of Louise Lalonde Lamarre to its scientific library, the Polytechnique community pays tribute to the one who was the muse of a great builder.

History of the Library *

  • 1873 - Foundation of École Polytechnique de Montréal. A small library is present in the building located on Sainte-Catherine Street. Currently, Place des Arts occupies this site.
  • 1905 - The School occupies a new building on Saint-Denis Street. A reading room serving as a library is part of the building.
  • 1941 - Addition of a wing where a real library of 10,000 square feet will be housed. The collection includes 40,000 documents and 550 periodicals.
  • 1958 - Arrival of Polytechnique on the campus of Université de Montréal. The library occupies part of the 2nd and 3rd floors of wing A of the current main pavilion. The quantity of volumes reaches 84,000 and periodicals, 870. There are 200 seats.
  • 1976 - The library moves to the C wing and occupies 36,000 square feet on the 3rd and 4th floors. The number of seats is now 285 and we see the first team study rooms appear. The collection has 200,000 volumes and 2,400 periodicals.
  • 1986 - Computing made its entry into the library with a first computerized catalog.
  • 2005 - Inauguration of the Lassonde pavilions. New spaces for the 49,000 square foot library on the 7th and 8th floors. The work Nooshère by the artist Jacques Payette blends in with the decor. More than 600 seats in individual work and collaborative work areas promote learning and knowledge sharing. A donation from Khalil E. Barsoum, Po 66, makes possible the installation of a training laboratory equipped with 25 computers. The era of documentary training is becoming essential for Polytechnique research activities. Users now have at their disposal 36 Computer Service workstations in addition to the 14 Library workstations. Bibliographic databases have become common tools.
  • 2016 - Major gift from the family of Bernard Lamarre, Po 52. The library now bears the name of Louise-Lalonde-Lamarre Library and receives the techno-artistic work Curiosités by Pascal Dufaux. Exhibitions, conferences and a cultural collection of 1,700 volumes funded by the two student associations AEP and AECSP and the Polytechnique Foundation offer clients opportunities to enrich and exchange their knowledge.

* References:

[1] L. Brunotto, "La Bibliothèque de l'École Polytechnique," Revue trimestrielle canadienne, p.327-337, Sept. 1927.
[2] E. Lavigne, "La Bibliothèque," L'ingénieur : revue trimestrielle canadienne, vol. 44, no 175, pp. 93-96, 1958.
[3] S. Rancourt, "La bibliothèque au fil du temps" Infotech, no 45, February 2007

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