Refurbished space merges collections from Psychiatry and Health Sciences libraries
Welcome to the next-generation library of our CIUSSS—a revamped space designed to meet our staff’s information needs for the 21st century.
Bright and airy, the venue occupies the premises of the Dr. Henry Kravitz Psychiatry Library in the Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry. The new hub merges the collections of the psychiatry library with those of the Health Sciences Library, which leaves its home in the JGH’s Pavilion A after five decades.
The facility at Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road and Légaré Street will be called the Henry Kravitz Library, for a former JGH Chief of Psychiatry.
“This is a new era,” says Kevin Morin, Associate to the Director of Academic Affairs and Research Ethics, and Manager of the new library. “We’re excited to be launching this library with a renewed service offering and in a freshly renovated environment.”
The library, which is open to CIUSSS staff, researchers, medical residents and students, will feel both updated yet familiar. Visitors will still find bookshelves with medical textbooks, as well as desks, reading chairs and workspaces for those seeking a quiet retreat.
And they will find their crucial connection to knowledge: a team of librarians. At a time of information overload, these professionals play a key role in ensuring access to material that’s reliable and trustworthy.
“Our librarians are the bridge between mounds of information and the knowledge you really need.”
Kevin Morin
“They allow our community to connect with knowledge that’s relevant for their work, instead of drowning in an ocean of information,” he adds.
Librarians can help staff access a myriad of e-journals and databases, obtain articles or borrow books from outside library collections. They can also tap into a wide range of resources.
Wondering about the government’s latest guidelines for best practices? The latest initiatives in virtual care in other countries? How about the presentation of a speaker at a healthcare conference, or the latest recommendations from Quebec’s professional orders?
The librarians can point staff in the right direction, and they’re easier to reach than ever: in addition to phone or email, they can now be contacted via Teams chat*.
Mary Kalogerakis, Systems Librarian and Team Leader for the new library, compares the model to Care Everywhere, our CIUSSS’s approach of achieving the right outcomes for users by delivering the right care at the right time in the location that’s most appropriate.
“It’s Information Everywhere,” Ms. Kalogerakis says. “Staff and students can access information quickly, in the heat of the action, wherever they are. We’re there to curate that information and ensure it’s reliable and verified.”
Unearthing information is a job the librarians compare to a detective tackling a tough case.
“I’m like Sherlock Holmes—and the harder it is, the better.”
David Farley Chevrier, Librarian
“I’m looking for nuggets of information. And I get a feeling of success when I find it, because I know that it’s going to have an impact on patients,” Mr. Farley Chevrier says.
Library Technician Heather Vesely says it’s rewarding to know that the ultimate beneficiaries of her work are the clients of our CIUSSS. “It’s like a circle. I’m helping staff help their patients. It’s a domino effect, and that gives me a sense of accomplishment.”
The move to the Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry marks the latest chapter in the Medical Library’s history. The JGH, which commemorated its 90th anniversary last year, established a medical library soon after opening. It was housed in various locations in the hospital until it moved to the second floor of Pavilion A in the 1970s.
While its new home means users in the JGH will have to cross Légaré Street, Mr. Morin says the library’s upgraded services and revamped environment will make it worthwhile. “It will warrant the detour,” he says.
And the library’s transformation will continue, he adds. Plans for the future include the integration of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, and the creation of an “intelligent and immersive” library.
“The new digital services are just beginning,” Mr. Morin says. “The library will continue to transform to respond to our users’ new needs.”
The Patient and Family Resource Centre, a separate service for patients and their families, is scheduled to open in 2025 in A-200.1, next to the former Health Sciences Library in the JGH.
* Contact library staff at 514-340-8222 extension 22931 or through Teams at 06 CCOMTL Lib Biblio. The library’s new email address is lib.biblio.ccomtl@ssss.gouv.qc.ca.
