The Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Collège de France strengthen their scientific and cultural cooperation

december 9, 2019

On December 9, 2019, Laurence Engel, President of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Thomas Römer, Administrator of the Collège de France, signed a scientific and cultural framework partnership agreement for a renewable four-year term. This partnership strengthens the documentary and scientific synergies already at work in fields as varied as lectures, the exchange of expertise, cooperation between the Gallica and Salamandre digital libraries, and exhibitions and events.

The Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Collège de France are thus joining forces to fulfill their shared mission of building up knowledge and making it available to as many people as possible.

The history of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and that of the Collège de France have intersected constantly over the last five centuries, from their respective origins to the present day. The development of collections at the former and the renewal of lectures at the latter have often been linked, through the great figures of professors, curators and administrators who willingly moved from one establishment to the other. While these collaborations have always been natural, fostered by complementary national scientific missions and resolutely open to the diversity of disciplines and the universality of knowledge, they had never before been formalized. This first framework agreement is rooted in this rich history, and its ambition is to demonstrate a shared desire to develop exchanges in three main areas:

• scientific collaboration: symposia, study days, jointly-defined lectures, research and digitization projects;
• dissemination of knowledge: promotion and interoperability of the two establishments' digital collections, conferences and exhibitions;
• exchange of expertise and information: long-term hosting of scientific staff from one institution by the other, training, consultancy.

For example, among other current or planned initiatives, a one-day lecture will be held at the Collège de France on April 23, 2020, on the cross-history of the two institutions, as part of the multi-year research program "Passage des disciplines: histoire globale du Collège de France", directed by Professor Antoine Compagnon, who is also Chairman of BnF's Scientific Advisory Board.

The French National Library

The Bibliothèque nationale de France looks after collections built up over five centuries, mainly through the legal deposit system instituted in 1537 by François^1er. It ensures the conservation and restoration of collections that are unique in the world, representing over 40 million documents of all types: books and journals, manuscripts, photographs, prints, maps, plans, scores, coins, medals, theater sets and costumes, sound and audiovisual documents, video games, etc.

As a place of excellence and dissemination of knowledge, BnF offers a wide range of cultural events: exhibitions, conferences, concerts, etc. Gallica, its digital library, provides free access to over 5 million documents.