The Library

From the Oval Reading Room to the Labrouste Room

As an on-site and progressively off-site resource centre, the INHA has been managing the collections of the Library of Art and Archaeology, created by the great dressmaker, collector and patron Jacques Doucet (1853-1929), since 2003. Today the collections have been considerably enriched and are accessible in the Oval Reading Room (salle Ovale) of the Richelieu quadrangle, close to the specialist departments of the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

These collections will soon be completed by those of the Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux and a selection of the print collections from the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. This collection should be opened at the end of 2015 in the Labrouste reading room and its surrounding reserves, at the heart of the renovated Richlieu quadrangle. This exceptional grouping, which will constitute one of the largest art libraries in the world, will hold more than 1 800 000 documents, of which 230 000 open-access books, and welcome up to 411 readers. This resource  is enriched by the proximity of the library of the École nationale des Chartes (160 000 documents) and the specialist collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, which will remain on site.

An online library

Available for online consultation, the catalogue of the INHA Library describes and gives access to 600 000 documents. Its comprehensive patrimonial collections (photographs, prints, ancient books, archives...) are also described in inventories that are accessible online. No fewer than 3000 electronic periodicals are available for consultation. The INHA is developing a digital art history library, which is regularly added to: nearly 12 500 documents of all kinds are currently available for consultation.