Lyon City Library
The Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon is the city library of Lyon . Its beginnings go back to the 16th century. With a holdings of around 5 million volumes (1.3 million of which are classified as national heritage), it is the largest library in France after the Paris National Library .
history
In 1527 the city council handed over the College of the Trinité (Trinity) (today High School Ampère) to the Jesuits . There was no library room of its own; the books were spread all over the building until the 17th century. The donation of the library of the Archbishop of Lyon, Amille de Neufville de Villeroy , in 1693 increased the collection by over 5,000 prints and manuscripts. With a few exceptions, the library was reserved for professors, and visitors were allowed to inspect freely.
In 1731 Lyon's first public library opened in the old town (Quartier Vieux Lyon ) on Mondays and Fridays, was a reference library and specialized in law.
In 1765, three years after the Jesuits were expelled from France, the city council decided to unite the two libraries in the College of Trinité, manage them from the oratorios and make the 40,000 works available to the public.
The turmoil of the revolution led to the closure of the library, the occupation by armed troops and thefts in favor of Paris collections. Together with precarious conservation conditions, this has led to severe stock depletion and damage.
In 1803, the management of the library was transferred to the city government on the condition that a librarian was paid and an operating budget provided. Antoine Delandine, the first librarian, began cataloging , which continued beyond his term of office.
In 1831, the mayor of Lyon founded a second municipal library dedicated to the sciences and arts - it brought together the collections of the Lyon Academy and various knowledge societies. But soon the premises were no longer sufficient and the visitors complained that the stocks were divided.
In 1911, the Palais Saint-Jean (see Saint-Jean Cathedral ), which had been emptied due to the separation of church and state, became empty and the city library, uniting all its collections, moved in.
From 1959, the book circles with public readings and libraries for adults and children developed in each of Lyon's nine boroughs .
In 1972 the central library left the Palais Saint-Jean to move into quarters on the left bank of the Rhone , in the district de la Part-Dieu ; Some of the functions were automated, and a new system was added in 1986: purchases, cataloging, and document search and transport were automated. The inventory catalog of the district libraries was made increasingly accessible.
In 1990 the Bibliothèque municipale, with 14 external extensions and three library buses, became one of the most important libraries in Europe.
In 1999 the library received the Jesuit collections on loan from the Library des Fontaines with around 500,000 volumes and iconographies from the 15th century to our days. At the same time, a groundbreaking new operating system was put into operation that met the growing requirements: around 50,000 new acquisitions per year, 5,000 ongoing subscriptions to newspapers and magazines and, above all, 2.8 million loans per year.
With a large number of cultural events and readings, especially due to the large scientific collections that go back to the beginnings of the art of printing, the library of Lyon is one of the largest and most modern in Europe and, in addition to its main function as a municipal library, a center of knowledge, due to the Jesuit collections and bibliophile treasures of cultural historical importance.
Individual evidence
- ↑ History of the library on the library page ( Memento of the original from December 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
Coordinates: 45 ° 45 ′ 37.3 " N , 4 ° 51 ′ 25.7" E