Discover in the hall of Sainte-Geneviève Library this new exhibition that reveals, through approximately a hundred works and archives, the history of donations and the precious enrichment of its encyclopedic collections by its readers and patrons.
Heir to the collections of the abbey of the same name, which bear the mark of major donations and were preserved for the benefit of the Nation by the French Revolution, Sainte-Geneviève Library saw its role strengthened by the grant of the legal deposit requirement for printers in 1828, then the installation in 1851 in the purpose-built setting designed by Henri Labrouste. The administrators and curators then asserted an ambitious and consistent policy of enriching the funds thus gathered. Alongside regular purchases and institutional acquisitions such as subscriptions and other exchanges, donations occupy an essential place—significant collections assembled over the years by collectors, scholars, or publishing professionals, as well as a few books offered by modest readers who wish to give back to the library what it gave them: the broadest possible access to an encyclopedic and universal collection. It is this dynamic, still at work, and these privileged relationships with a diverse readership that the exhibition of approximately a hundred works, objects, and archival pieces invites you to discover. Free admission with reservation during Sainte-Geneviève Library hours.
Source: paris.fr — photo: Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève