The first thing you notice in the Bibliothèque Maisonneuve is the ceramic coat of arms embedded in the floor. The building was the city hall of the municipality of Maisonneuve, from 1912 to 1918 when it was annexed by Montréal. Starting in 1925 the building housed the Radium Institute of the Université de Montréal where radiologists took their training and it was the scene of the last days of Mary Travers (known as La Bolduc), the popular singer from the Gaspé who died there in 1941. This library branch has operated on the site since 1981.