Each city in the world has its own library, and somewhere - and not one. In large cities, libraries are large, in smaller ones - smaller, almost compact. And in some settlements there are such book storage facilities that are known around the world. For example, the national library of France in Paris - only the lazy did not hear about it. What is special about this temple of the book, we learn further!
National Library of France: History
The first thing the world’s largest francophone library is famous for is its age. And he is quite honorable - this book house is one of the oldest in all of Europe. Despite the fact that the official founding date of the French National Library is considered to be 1994, its origins lie in the personal libraries of the monarchs of France. Such, for example, as Charles V, who sat on the throne in the distant XIV century. He initially began to collect his collection of books in such a way as to subsequently pass it on to his descendants. In addition, the king was very generous and allowed scholars to work with books from his own collection. Moreover, he allowed many books to be rewritten, and some he even ordered "to convey to the people." However, his kindness played an unpleasant joke with him: royal relatives took copies from the collection and did not return them. Thus, everything that the monarch managed to accumulate was taken away, and out of more than 1,200 books, a miserable handful ultimately remained. Nevertheless, it is she, this handful of books, who is the "progenitor" of the National Library of France (in the photo below the reading room of the library).
The case of Charles V was continued by Louis XI. However, it’s not that he continued, but practically began anew. He added the remaining copies from the collection of his predecessor to the meeting of his father and grandfather. Later, he expanded the library even further by purchasing a collection of the Dukes of Milan and, in part, a Petrarch collection. And Francis the First, when power passed to him, supplemented the royal assembly with a personal collection. By the way, it was under Francis that the future National Library of France received such employees as bookbinders, the chief librarian and assistant librarians.
Francis the First was very fond of reading. There is a legend that a bookcase accompanied the monarch on various trips. Whether it is true or not, it’s hard to say, one thing is certain - the king constantly acquired new books in the collection, including those abroad, so that in his reign the collection of the royal library expanded significantly.
Further fate
In 1546, the library of French kings was open to a wide range of readers. That's just when Louis XIII (XVII century) ascended the throne, this permission was canceled, the book depository again became only royal. They returned access to visitors only at the next king.
Under him, Louis XIV, the library was replenished with a mass of valuable acquisitions: books, manuscripts, drawings, miniatures, sketches, and so on. They all dated over different years and were donated to the French vault from completely different people. A similar constant replenishment of the library continued on.
National Library of France
At the end of the 18th century, the Great French Revolution broke out, and as a result, the library of kings was nationalized. Previously called royal, it now received national status. And in the same period, the collection was replenished with a huge number of rare, unique, truly rare books from monasteries and abbeys of France: more than nine thousand books contained only one collection, and several of them arrived at once in the library. Even then, the library was one of the largest in Europe, so huge that for it at the end of the 60s of the XIX century a new large building was erected, where all the books were freely placed. The National Library of France flourished.
New time
By the beginning of the 90s of the last century, the National Library of France had more than nine million books. Even the former huge building (incidentally, historical) has become cramped for so many copies. And then it was decided to build a whole library complex of four towers. It rises on the left bank of the Seine. The main funds of the meeting were comfortably placed there, the rest of the books are in the same places.
Today is the age of technology, when any information is available on the Internet, including books. Therefore, all the libraries of the world undertook to digitize their treasures and put them on the World Wide Web. The National Library of France was one of the first to take this step. Of course, you cannot find all the library materials on the net completely (more than thirty million units are now in the French collection), but very, very much is available for online use. The store employs more than two and a half thousand people, so it is rightfully considered one of the largest not only in the number of books, but also in the number of employees.
Library mode
The fixed assets of the National Library of France are open to all comers daily. They are called the library after Francois Mitterrand, and work in the following mode: on Monday from 14:00 to 20:00 hours, but only for researchers; Tuesday to Saturday from 09:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sunday - from 13:00 to 19:00 hours.
The Richelieu library is the second building of the French repository; it is open to visitors from Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00. Sunday here is a day off, as well as in the third building, the Arsenal library. There visitors are welcome from 10:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, and from 10:00 to 17:00 - on Saturday.
Finally, the fourth building, the Opera Museum Library, is open six days a week, except Sunday, from ten in the morning until five in the evening.
Contact Information
The addresses of the National Library of France, as you might have guessed, are several. We give them all further.
- The library of Francois Mitterrand is located at Quai François-Mauriac 75706 Paris Cedex 13.
- The Richelieu library is located here: 58, rue de Richelieu 75002 Paris.
- The Arsenal Library is located at 1, rue Sully 75004 Paris.
- Finally, the address of the Opera Museum Library is Place de l'Opéra 75009 Paris.
The word "rue" in the address means "street", "place" - "square".
How to become a reader?
Everyone will be admitted to the National Library of France, but not everyone will be given books. How to become a reader and get the treasured treasure in hand?
Everything is pretty simple. The library is divided into two - scientific and educational. The first entry is allowed only to accredited persons of eighteen years of age who carry out any research work from the university or independently. The second one lets everyone over sixteen if you buy a subscription. So come, buy and read on health.
Reviews
Reviews on the National Library of France are mostly positive. People admire not only the rare books compiled here, but also the architecture of historical buildings. They write that the library constantly has various thematic expositions.
This is a summary of the National Library of France. If you are in Paris - visit her, it’s better to see once than to hear a hundred!