Bibliothèque Polonaise de Paris

Polish Library in Paris

Entrance to the Polish Library in Paris
Formation	1838
Type	19th and 20th-century Polish documentary collections abroad and Mickiewicz and Chopin Museums
Location	8, Quai d'Orleans, Ile Saint-Louis
Coordinates	48°51'0"N, 2°21'35"E
Library Association Chairman	C. Pierre Zaleski
Library Director	C. Pierre Zaleski
Museum Head	A.Czarnocka
Head of Manuscripts and Archives	Ewa Rutkowska
Website	http://www.bibliotheque-polonaise-paris-shlp.fr/

The Polish Library in Paris (French: Bibliothèque Polonaise de Paris, Polish: Biblioteka Polska w Paryżu) is a Polish cultural centre of national importance and is closely associated both with the historic Great Emigration of the Polish élite to Paris in the 19th-century and the formation in 1832 of the Literary Society (pl: Towarzystwo Literackie), later the Historical and Literary Society. The Library was founded in 1838 by Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and Karol Sienkiewicz, among others. Its first task was to safeguard all surviving books, documents, archives and treasures of national significance. It has become a historical and documentary resource open for the use of Poles and other researchers and visitors. It houses three museums: Salon Frederic Chopin, the Adam Mickiewicz Museum and the Biegas Art collection. UNESCO's Memory of the World Register rates it as an institution unique of its kind.

The prime instigator for the creation of the Polish Library in Paris was Karol Sienkiewicz, who had managed to assemble the already existing book collections in the history and statistical departments of the Towarzystwo Literackie w Paryżu, and the Towarzystwo Pomocy Naukowej, the Polish Literary and Scientific Aid societies. A critical role in the venture was played by the French Société de Civilisation, which, spurred on by the effect Adam Mickiewicz had with his article, "Rabunek bibliotek i muzeów w Polsce" - the pillage of libraries and museums in Poland - started a public appeal to garner support for a library dedicated to Poland. The act of foundation was signed in November 1838, followed in March 1839 by a gala opening of the building. A library committee consisting of eight delegates took on the running of the enterprise. Prince Czartoryski was elected as its life president, while the functions of secretary, librarian and treasurer were entrusted to Sienkiewicz.

To satisfy French legal requirements, Czartoryski took on formal ownership of the institution, thus securing its material survival. The initial plan was to erect a purpose-built Polish mansion in Paris to house the collections, but the shortage of funds led to the abandonment of that ambition, and instead a 17th-century four storey mansion was bought, on the Ile Saint-Louis along the Quai d'Orleans. The library moved into eleven rooms on the second floor while the rest of the building was let as accommodation to finance the loans that had been taken out. Meanwhile, the Library saw rapid expansion as gifts and legacies arrived from private individuals, for instance the collections of Małachowski, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Karol Kniaziewicz and Adam Mickiewicz. By 1845 the Library held 15,000 volumes and three years later, almost 20,000 items. In 1914 the collection contained 100,000 books. In addition, there was a stock of journals and reviews, of photographs, and of medals and coins.