The Beginnings of Public Libraries in France and the Emergence of Conscious Need to Preserve National Cultural Heritage vis-à-vis the Great Revolution, 1789–1799

Abstract

The article considers the attempt at organizing a network of public libraries in France during the Revolution, and the influence of this process on the mind of the new citizen. I. Pugacewicz begins with earlier efforts at opening such libraries, already before 1789. Then she discusses the nationalization of Church book collections, private libraries of the aristocracy, and the collections of learned institutions. Special attention is paid to the expectations linked with these actions and to the problems which arose during their execution. On the basis of the books deposited in the so called dépôts litéraires, alongside the establishing of great book-repositories in Paris, such as the reorganisation of the Royal Library into the Bibliothèque nationale, which ever since were to serve the nation, the revolutionary authorities also tried to set up a network of popular libraries throughout the country. Another important initiative was the attempt at creating the first in history national union catalogue. The author also follows synchronizing her observations with the chronological order of political events and with the activities of the first French network of public libraries the emergence of such concepts as national heritage and civic education.