It has been 50 years since the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) has been the legal depository for all books published in Quebec.
Since January 1, 1968, all publishers must supply two copies of every book they publish in Quebec to BAnQ. One copy is to be preserved, the other is to be made available for distribution.
In 1992, legal deposit evolved in Quebec to include iconography — visual images — such as posters and postcards, and sound recordings. Movies and TV programs were included in 2006.
Genealogists benefit from this regulation with the deposit of family histories.
Library and Archives Canada
At the national level, legal deposit has been in effect in Canada since the National Library of Canada, now Library and Archives Canada, was created in 1953. Through legal deposit, all materials produced by Canadian publishers become part of LAC’s collection and are available for public consultation and use.
Initially applied primarily to books published in Canada, legal deposit was later expanded to include serial publications (1965), sound recordings (1969), multimedia kits (1978), microforms (1988), video recordings (1993), CD-ROMs (1995), and cartographic materials, as well as online or digital publications (2007).
