Bibliothèque nationale de France

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris. As a public establishment under the supervision of the French Ministry of Culture, its core mission is to collect, conserve, and make available the national published heritage. It achieves this largely through the legal deposit system, which mandates that copies of all works published in France be deposited in its collections. The institution operates across multiple sites, with the primary locations being the historic Richelieu site in the 2nd arrondissement and the modern François-Mitterrand site in the 13th arrondissement on the banks of the Seine. Beyond books, the BnF preserves a vast array of precious objects and artworks, many of which are displayed at the BnF Museum on the Richelieu site.

The library traces its origins to the royal library founded by Charles V at the Louvre Palace in 1368, which originally held 917 manuscripts. This first collection was dispersed in 1424 when the English regent, the Duke of Bedford, bought and transferred it to England. A continuous collection began under Louis XI in 1461, subsequently enriched by seizures from Aragon and Milan. In 1537, Francis I instituted the legal deposit system, requiring French publishers to deposit a copy of all printed works. The library relocated multiple times, moving to the Collège de Clermont in 1595 and then the Cordeliers Convent, before settling in the Rue Vivienne in 1666 under Minister Colbert. It opened to the public in 1692. In 1721, the librarian Jean-Paul Bignon moved the collection into the former palace of Cardinal Mazarin on the Rue de Richelieu. During the French Revolution, the library was declared national property, renamed the Bibliothèque Nationale, and swelled with seized aristocratic and clerical libraries. The institution adopted its current name, Bibliothèque nationale de France, in 1994.

Unlike some national libraries that focus solely on national publications, the BnF functions as a universal library, collecting literature from all eras and disciplines. Its total holdings encompass roughly 150 million documents, including approximately 16 million books and printed items, 420,000 periodical titles, and millions of specialized documents. The library acquires over 150,000 volumes annually, including 60,000 through legal deposit. Its collections are remarkably diverse, featuring 380,000 manuscripts, including 10,000 medieval illuminated manuscripts, making it the world's leading collection in that domain. Additionally, the BnF holds vast numbers of maps, prints, photographs, coins, medals, music scores, sound recordings, and videos. The institution also preserves digital heritage, including billions of archived URLs and web data, much of which is accessible through its digital library, Gallica, which hosts over 11 million documents.

The BnF Museum, formerly the Cabinet des Médailles, houses an exceptional array of historical artifacts and artworks. Among its most celebrated ancient objects is the Grand Camée de France, the largest surviving cameo from Antiquity, which has been recorded in French royal inventories since 1247. Another masterpiece is the cameo of Alexander the Great, attributed to Pyrgotélès and later mounted by Josias Belle for Louis XIV. The museum also holds the Berthouville Treasure, a hoard of 25 kilograms of Roman silver discovered by a Normandy farmer in 1830, and the Caillou Michaux, a Babylonian kudurru from around 1100 B.C. Medieval treasures include Dagobert's Throne, used by Napoleon for his first Legion d'Honneur ceremony in 1804, and a breviary from the Sainte-Chapelle that belonged to Charles V. The library's manuscript collection includes a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, scores by Mozart and Beethoven, and Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. At the François-Mitterrand site, the Hall des Globes displays the Coronelli Globes, four-meter diameter celestial and terrestrial globes originally gifted to Louis XIV.

The BnF is anchored by two main Parisian sites. The Richelieu site occupies a 16,000 square meter block in the 2nd arrondissement, incorporating the former Hôtel de Nevers and Hôtel Tubeuf from the Mazarin palace complex. The architect Henri Labrouste substantially rebuilt the site between 1854 and 1875, introducing the revolutionary Salle Labrouste with its cast-iron structure in 1868. His successor, Jean-Louis Pascal, designed the Salle Ovale, which was inaugurated in 1936. The site underwent a major 12-year renovation, reopening in 2022. The François-Mitterrand site in the 13th arrondissement was announced by President François Mitterrand in 1988. Designed by architect Dominique Perrault, the complex features four 79-meter-tall L-shaped glass towers, symbolizing open books, arranged around a rectangular esplanade. The towers are named for Time, Laws, Numbers, and Letters. A 12,000 square meter sunken forest of pine, oak, and birch trees occupies the center. Most of the reading rooms and archives are located underground, and the facility includes an automated book transport system spanning 6.6 kilometers. The building was completed in 1995 and opened to the public in December 1996.

The BnF operates several sites accessible to the public, including the François-Mitterrand and Richelieu locations in Paris, the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, the museum library of the Paris Opera, and the Maison Jean Vilar in Avignon. The Richelieu site offers free public access to the Salle Ovale and its garden. The BnF Museum, located on the first floor of the Richelieu site, requires a purchased ticket for entry, though disabled visitors and their carers have free priority access. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, with late-night hours on Tuesdays, and is closed on Mondays and select holidays. Due to the fragility of paper and other sensitive materials, pieces in the Mazarin Gallery and Rotunda are rotated every four months. The François-Mitterrand site provides free access to its public reading rooms, study spaces, and the Hall des Globes, while underground research rooms require card access. The museum provides tactile devices, multimedia stations, and French Sign Language videos to assist visually and hearing impaired visitors.