Bibliothèque nationale du Québec

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ, unofficially translated as National Library and Archives of Québec) is a Québec governmental organization who manages the legal deposit and national archives systems of the province as well as its national library, which is located in the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal. It is born out of a merger between the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec (BNQ) and the Archives nationales du Québec, in 2006. The Bibliothèque nationale du Québec had previously merged with the Grande bibliothèque du Québec in 2002.

BAnQ's mandate is to offer democratic access to culture and knowledge. To this end, it brings together, preserves and promotes Québec's and Québec-related heritage materials, and also provides the services of a major public library. BAnQ carries out its mandate in 12 facilities which are open to the public: the Grande Bibliothèque, BAnQ Vieux-Montréal and BAnQ Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie in Montréal; BAnQ Gaspé, BAnQ Gatineau, BAnQ Québec, BAnQ Rimouski, BAnQ Rouyn-Noranda, BAnQ Saguenay, BAnQ Sept-Îles, BAnQ Sherbrooke and BAnQ Trois-Rivières.

The library's collection includes legal deposit copies of all works printed in Quebec, concerning Quebec, or written or contributed to by an author from Quebec.

The Archives nationales du Québec (ANQ), or National Archives of Québec, were founded September 2, 1920, and Pierre-Georges Roy became Québec's first Head Archivist in the process.

The purpose of the institution was to process historical materials, more specifically public archives and the Québec government's archives, and to collect documents pertaining to the history of Québec.

The Archives nationales du Québec (as they were called in 1970) were brought under the jurisdiction of the Department of Cultural Affairs in 1961. Until 1963, the institution was called Archives de la province de Québec.

On August 12, 1967, the National Assembly of Québec legislated to establish the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec (BNQ), an institution that would also come under the Department of Cultural Affairs. Originally, the BNQ held the collections and furniture of the Bibliothèque Saint-Sulpice, located in Montréal. Its creation by the Sulpician Order dated back to 1915. The library belonged to the Québec government since 1941.

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