What hides the National Library of France

From Monday to Friday, it’s the same ritual. A little before 9 am, a truck from La Poste arrives by the Interior Street, an underground artery which surrounds the esplanade of the National Library of France (BNF).

In five minutes show in hand, the storekeepers unload the palettes of books and periodicals. A whole human chain then activates to sort, record and reference the delivery of the day. An ant and high precision work for an emblematic task of the place: the legal deposit.

Established by François Ier in 1537, this obligation made to producers or broadcasters of documents printed in France to file a copy in a national institution makes it possible to constitute the memory of our written heritage. It is the first mission of the BNF which has grown with the multiplication of supports

Since 2006, sites have also been listed. A few meters away, a series of prints are on the way to being scanned to feed the Gallica online library, the digital version of the BNF. Then just push a door to be, in the binding and catering workshops, in the presence of unique copies: illuminated scrolls, prints, photographs or medals …

The heart of the BNF is thus a perpetual project which deploys a range of skills at the service of the conservation and transmission of knowledge. “I participate in an exhilarating collective mission,” says Jean-Marc Chatelain, director of the reserve of rare books. I have the feeling of touching the thickness of a culture. An enthusiasm shared by all those who work on a daily basis on the site.