
Culture & Civic Life
The American Library in Paris
With its long and deeply involved history in France, The American Library in Paris has served as a cultural and artistic mecca since the 1920s. It...
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Bibliothéque National de France (BnF) was opened to the public in 1992 and is today under the supervision of France's Ministry of Culture. The Library – a repository housing all works published in France along with extensive historic collections – traces its roots to the royal library established by Charles V at Louvre Palace in 1368. Today, the BnF is home to the world's largest collection of medieval and modern manuscripts, including approximately 5,000 of Ancient Greek origins. The BnF's work is driven by two central goals: to collect, catalog, and conserve France's national heritage through published documents and, to ensure public access to its vast collections. It operates five public and online sites, as well as various reading rooms, research centers, and foreign language learning laboratories. Further, BnF hosts temporary exhibitions, symposia, concerts, conferences, and a plethora of other cultural and educational programming activities throughout the year.
Acquisition – Marcel Proust's L'Agenda, 1906
Acquisition – Saint Catherine Manuscript
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