The Saint-Sulpice Library (BSS) was built between 1912 and 1914 on Saint-Denis Street. The Sulpicians, who initiated the project, chose architect Eugène Payette after the first architectural competition held in Quebec for a library!

The library was inaugurated in 1915 under the direction of Aegidius Fauteux. At the time, it was the largest French-language library in Montreal, located in the heart of the Latin Quarter.

In 1931, it closed its doors, a victim of the economic crisis. The government purchased the building in 1942. Soon after, the Conservatoire de musique, founded by Wilfrid Pelletier, moved into the basement and set up teaching and practice studios as well as a concert hall in the amphitheater. The Conservatoire left the BSS in the 1960s.

In 1967, the library was revived with the opening of the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec (BnQ). Students, researchers, and readers of all kinds once again filled the premises.

In 1988, the Bibliothèque Saint-Sulpice was classified as a historic monument by Lise Bacon, Quebec’s Minister of Cultural Affairs.

In 2005, the BnQ merged with the National Archives and moved to a new building, the Grande Bibliothèque. Since then, the library has remained vacant.

In 2005, the Université du Québec à Montréal acquired the building before deciding to sell it in 2007. The Minister of Culture exercised her right of first refusal to acquire it (again). Since then, there have been numerous projects for the BSS, notably those of Le Vivier and FabLab, the latter of which was the subject of a multidisciplinary competition.