Bibliothèque Nationale de France

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  • Address
    11 quai François Mauriac, 13e
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  • Phone
    01 53 79 40 41
  • Website
  • Transport
    underground rail: Bibliothèque
  • Tue-Sat 10:00 - 19:00 , Sun 13:00 - 19:00

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Lonely Planet review

Just across the Seine from Bercy are the four glass towers of the controversial two billion euro National Library of France conceived by the late President François Mitterrand as a 'wonder of the modern world' and opened in 1998. The library contains around 12 million tomes stored on some 420km (261mi) of shelves and can accommodate 2000 readers and 2000 researchers.

No expense was spared to carry out a plan that many said defied logic. While many of the books and historical documents were shelved in the sun-drenched, 23-storey and 79m-high towers - shaped like half-open books - patrons sat in artificially lit basement halls built around a 'forest courtyard' of 140 50-year-old pines, trucked in from the countryside. The towers have since been fitted with a complex (and expensive) shutter system and the basement is prone to flooding from the Seine. Temporary exhibitions revolve around 'the word', focusing on everything from storytelling to bookbinding.