La Librairie du Square is named after St. Louis Square, which is located across the street on Saint-Denis Street. The venerable bookstore has an interesting history. In 1970, the shop housed the Gutenberg Bookstore, owned by Marcel Beauregard. In the winter of '85, he was forced to sell his business.
This is where Françoise Careil enters the story. At the time, she was employed at Renaud-Bray when, on a whim, she decided to change her life; in the span of two weeks she went from bookseller to bookstore owner by purchasing La Librairie du Square. Under her leadership, the small business became a popular hot spot for an eclectic array of artists, writers, poets and personalities such as playwright Michel Tremblay, union activist Michel Chartrand, singer and actress Pauline Julien and novelist Danny Laferrière. TV host Bernard Pivot was spotted there one day, sitting behind the cash interviewing poet and writer, Gaston Miron, for his show Apostrophes.
But the reputation of the bookstore is not just about its famous clientele; it also comes from Françoise's deep love of books and her extraordinary ability to offer the right book to the right reader.
