This huge library is such a gift to the area and to the city, it's really amazing. There are zen quiet places to sit and read, study, or just dream. There is actually a huge English fiction section and a fricken awesome floor devoted to CDs and DVDs - this area gets packed on evenings and weekends, but check it out on weekday morning if you want to take some time to enjoy. Membership at the library is free for anyone with a Montreal mailing address (just bring some ID and a hydro bill and that should do it) and this gets you access to the whole library network of 43 libraries in the Mtl area. At the National library there are beautiful exhibits on different floors that change over time. There's a well equipped exhibition / conference space in the basement, and during the summer the back alley between the library and St Denis functions as a second hand bookstore where the library sells old or duplicate stock, and the library is connected to Berri metro underground and to UQAM which is super useful in the depths of Montreal's wild winters.