Please note: all BnF sites close early at 3pm on Tuesday 24 and 31 December.
As a reminder, all BnF sites are closed on Wednesday 25 December and 1 January.
OPENING HOURS, ACcESS & ADMISSION
François-Mitterrand
General Information
The François Mitterrand site houses two libraries, one for the general public open from Tuesday to Saturday and one for researchers open from Monday to Saturday. Different tickets give you access to our reading rooms as well as to our exhibitions and cultural programme. Outside of the reading rooms, some work and visiting areas are accessible free of charge.
The site is located on an open plaza with four towers shaped like an open book at each end. They host offices over seven floors and storage over eleven floors, all nested behind mobile wooden shutters.
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Wifi -
Café -
Librairie -
Restauration
Address
Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand
Quai François Mauriac, 75706 Paris Cedex 13
Phone : +33(0)1 53 79 59 59
Quai François Mauriac, 75706 Paris Cedex 13
Phone : +33(0)1 53 79 59 59
Buses
Lines 25, 62, 64, 71, 89, 132, 325
Metro
Line 6 (quai de la gare), 14 (Bibliothèque François Mitterrand), RER C (Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand)
Opening Hours
- Monday: 2 PM-8 PM
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 9 AM–8 PM
- Sunday: 1 PM-7 PM
For the full reading rooms schedule, see below
Please note
The François Mitterrand site is closed on bank holidays.*
Priority Access is reserved to holders of a “Pass Recherche”, people with disabilities, pregnant women, people from 60 and up. Thank you for following the provided signage.
*1 January, Easter Sunday and Monday, 1 and 8 May, Ascension Thursday, Pentecost Sunday and Monday, 15 August, 1 and 11 November, 25 December
EXHIBITIONS
Closed on Monday
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday:
10AM–7PM
Sunday:
1 PM – 7 PMPublic Library
The public library is open to all age 14 and up. Passes to the library are sold in the entrance hall or online. The Pass BnF lecture/culture gives you unlimited access to the reading rooms in the Public Library and to our exhibitions, concerts, and shows.
Please note: the reading rooms are accessible free of charge from 5 pm to 8 pm.
Public Library
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10AM - 8PM |
10AM - 8PM |
10AM - 8PM |
10AM - 8PM |
10AM - 8PM |
1PM - 7PM |
Information Desk
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2PM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
1PM - 7PM |
Pay Desk
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2PM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
9AM - 7PM |
1PM - 6PM |
1 day Reader’s card
5 €Reader’s card 5 PM - 8 PM
Access to the Public Library from 5 PM to 8 PM
Valid for 1 year
Pass BnF lecture / culture (illimited)
Unlimited access to the reading rooms in the Public Library and to our exhibitions, concerts, and shows
Valid for 1 year.
Pass BnF lecture / culture – Reduced Price
Access Room I- Young people
Free
For all children under 16 with an adult.
The three passes are valid for one year from their delivery date. They are strictly personal.
Please note: The cost of a lost, stolen (without proof of theft report) or forgotten pass is 2€. Pass replacement is free if the pass is malfunctioning or if it was stolen (upon proof of theft report).
An additional fee will be charged in case of access rights extension, see admission prices here.
Free access collections are available in all fields
- room A: Audiovisual Media
- room B: Press and Media
- room C: Science and Technology
- room D: Law, Economics, Politics
- room E: Bibliographic Research, Books, Libraries
- room F: Arts and Sports
- room G: World Literature
- room H: French Literature
- room I: National Centre for Children’s Literature
- room J: Philosophy, History, Humanities
Room I - Access for Young people (‘La Joie par les livres’)
Room I houses the National Centre for Children’s Literature – Joy Through Books - and is open to Young audiences during the weekend and holidays. They must be accompanied by an adult (3 kids per adult max.). Adults must carry a pass; access for young people is free.
Inside the reading rooms – people with disabilities
Each Public Library room (Upper Garden level) has two priority seats reserved for people with disabilities and one accompanying person.
There are also some reserved seats in the Research Library reading rooms (Garden level). When booking a seat online, simply select a ‘Reduced Mobility’ seat. Items from the storage will be brought at your seat by our agents.
In M and U rooms, you can book cabins specially equipped for visual impairments.
Before purchasing a pass:
You can prepare your visit by consulting our online catalogue or using our SINDBAD service by chat, phone or email.
Buying your Pass
You can purchase our Pass BnF lecture/culture through our online ticketing service :
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browse our ticketing service
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choose your pass
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create your account
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pay online
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get your pass on site, at the reception desk of the François-Mitterrand site (Reception Hall), upon presentation of your identity document.
Please note:
Your online payment will be canceled if you fail to show up within 30 days. Your credit card won’t be charged.
Your online payment will be canceled if you fail to show up within 30 days. Your credit card won’t be charged.
Renewing your pass
You can renew your expired or soon-to-be expired pass to the Research Library :
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On the online ticketing and registration website, only for passes created after 1 March 2017. If you are in possession of an older pass, you will need to go to the Library’s visitor desk to have it replaced.
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On-site, at the François Mitterand library’s general desk (in the Greeting Hall)
Please note: cash desks close at 7 PM. You won’t be able to retrieve or purchase a pass past that time.
Electronic Resources
The library offers many electronic resources – periodicals, monographs, databases, Gallica and Internet Archives - which can be accessed at the library or online.
Research Library
At the Research Library, you can book your seat in our reading rooms to access collection consultation freely, request one of the 49 million documents conserved in storage, research our entire electronic resources, work together in groups in our dedicated rooms and join workshops and training sessions.
Opening hours
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2PM - 8PM |
9AM - 8PM |
9AM - 8PM |
9AM - 8PM |
9AM - 8PM |
9AM - 8PM |
Accreditation
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2PM - 6PM |
9AM - 6PM |
9AM - 6PM |
9AM - 6PM |
9AM - 6PM |
9AM - 6PM |
*Reserve: (Room Y) 2 PM-6 PM (Monday), 9 AM-6 PM (Tuesday to Saturday).
*Department of Maps and Plans: 2 PM-6 PM (Monday),10 AM-6 PM (Tuesday to Friday) & 10 AM-5 PM (Saturday)
Day Research pass
6 €5-Day Research pass (consecutive or not)
24 €Unlimited research pass
This pass additionally grants you free access to the Research Library and the General Library reading rooms, exhibitions, and events at the BnF. Valid for 1 year.
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55 €research pass
Reduced fare
35 €
Free access collections are available in all fields :
- room K: Philosophy, Religion, Psychology-Psychoanalysis
- room L: History
- room M: Ethnology, Sociology, Geography
- room N: Economics, Political science, Press
- room O: Law, official publications
- room P: Audiovisual, InaTHEQUE, CNC, French film archives
- room R: History of sciences, Fundamental sciences
- room S: Life Sciences, Engineering science
- room T: Documentation on books, press, and reading
- room U: World literature
- room V: French literature
- room W: Oriental literature & Art
- room X: Bibliographic Research
- room Y: Rare books reserve
to know more about the Research Library
How to get an inscription for the Research Library ?
The conditions to get an inscription depend on our status and your specific needs
Documents consultations
Work in our reading rooms and consult our collections of books and journals, electronic resources and multimedia documents. There are 1500 seats available, computer and multimedia workstations and wifi access.
Please note: Documents can be consulted on-site only. Home loans are not permitted.
The new document communication system combines advance booking and every day direct communication. This system applies in the same way from Monday to Saturday.
- Advance reservation: you can reserve your documents until 8 p.m. the day before your visit (until 5 p.m. on Fridays) and have them available the next day.
- Direct communication on site: you can order other documents on site from 1.30 pm to 5 pm.
Reserving in advance allows you to consult the works you previously requested upon your arrival and to be warned in case of communication issues (document out of use or unavailable, etc.).
Layaway is always possible, all supports included.
Group work rooms
Group rooms can be booked on the same day and up to one week in advance, for a maximum duration of 4 hours a day and 20 hours a month.
In each room you will find:
In each room you will find:
- Electric plugs
- A magnetic whiteboard
- A Wifi connection
- Room P is equipped with a computer workstation and an audiovisual station
Plan, maximum number of seats:
- Room O - 8 seats
- Room P – 14 seats
Making your visiting experience easy
Cloakroom
You can leave your personal belongings in the cloakroom before your visit (within storage capacity), except valuable and large items.
Please note
Under Plan Vigipirate at ‘Heightened Security/Risk of Attack’ level, security and controls near the Library entrance have been enforced. Only cabin luggage (55cm × 35cm × 25cm) are accepted inside the BnF. Consequently, access can take a little longer than normal. We thank you for your understanding.
From Tuesday 1 October 2024, as part of the increased security measures for the collections, only small handbags will be allowed into the Research Library.
The rest of your personal belongings must be left in a locker or carried in the transparent cases provided for this purpose and available in the lockers located in the East or West Halls.
In the Rare Book Reserve, in addition to the already existing use of transparent cases, your personal belongings will be visually checked as you leave the reading rooms.
We invite you to use the transparent cases available in the lockers located in the East or West Halls.
Scooters and other means of personal transport are not permitted in the public areas of the BnF. These objects may not be left in the cloakroom.
Mandatory deposits
To make your visiting experience easier, some items must be checked at the cloakrooms:
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Motorbike helmets
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Umbrellas and walking sticks
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Backpacks and small luggage
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Sharp and harmful objects
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Cardboard portfolios
Please note: Some collections are submitted to specific rules.
Amenities
Changing tables
Changing tables are available in the women’s and men’s washrooms in the foyer of the small auditorium.
Mobile seats
The flâneuses®, or mobile seats, are a universal accessibility device, enabling all visitors to enjoy a relaxing experience. These mobile seats can be borrowed free of charge from the cloakrooms, on presentation of proof of identity.
Get to know us
If you want to get to know the Library and navigate the building or know which offer is better suited to you, we offer a bespoke service for everyone including non-ticket holders. You can access the service:
- By making an online appointment (in French) and selecting a 30-minute slot
- Without appointment at the Inscripion Service (Greeting Hall)
