The library

The library boasts the PLEIADES portal which allows them to access the library catalogue and their own personal account.

Created in 1882 when the school was founded, then redeveloped in 1932 and moved in 1972 to the Flore wing of the Louvre Palace, the library was redeveloped in 1998 during then President François Mitterrand’s Grand Louvre project which saw the entire school relocate to the Flore wing (architect: Antoine Stinco). The Ecole du Louvre library benefited from a major restructuring during the latest major works carried out in 2021 (architect: Heleene Haart). As a university library focused on art history, archaeology and museology, its mission is, on the one hand, to create of a multimedia documentary collection intended to support the courses provided at the Ecole du Louvre, and, on the other, to home heritage collections specific to the school. It can only be used by students, teachers, researchers of the school and approved researchers. Along with the classrooms and museums, the library is the third fundamental place in the students’ lives.

The refurbishment scheme consisted of optimising library spaces, updating the documentary policy and adapting operations in line with current documentary research practices. It allowed:

• To offer more seating in spaces adapted to different working or relaxing postures;
• To upgrade the digital offer while maintaining people’s educational relationships with books;
• To redevelop the public space, vaults and offices;
• To innovate in technological terms (connectivity, automation, IT, etc); 
• To promote free access to documents and readers’ autonomy;
• To optimise studying conditions;
• To offer collective work spaces and organise training in documentary research;
• To improve reception and studying conditions in an aesthetic and eco-responsible setting.

It was in 2016 that Majid Boustany formed a first partnership with the Ecole du Louvre through the creation of a research grant on the painter Francis Bacon. Continuing his philanthropic project, Majid Boustany continued his commitment by funding this ambitious refurbishment programme, which provided the school with an essential strategic asset for its future national and international influence. On top of this exceptional sponsorship, two sculptures by Antony Gormley and Francis Bacon's easel were donated to the school and are now displayed in the library and its vestibule.

On March 11, 2022, the École du Louvre inaugurated an ambitious architectural project (a library, a research center and living spaces) led by Claire Barbillon, director of the École du Louvre and made possible thanks to exceptional patronage by Majid Boustany, president of the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation . 

This is the largest support ever allocated to an educational establishment from the Ministry of Culture. As such, these new spaces were inaugurated on March 11, 2022 by Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin, Minister of Culture.

Access conditions

The library is accessible:

• to the students and teachers of the Ecole du Louvre as well as students of the preparatory class for the conservator entrance exams competition who must show their current student card
• to external readers who have secured an appointment (on-site consultation exclusively)

Opening times

Open Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm.

• Loans from 9am to 6.45pm.
• Requesting access to works located in the vault: request to be made by 5pm on the day before, the works are then available from Monday to Friday from 9am

Annual closure: one week between Christmas and New Year's Day and two weeks at the beginning of August.
Reduced opening hours in July and August.

Two online documentary platforms

The library offers two different online platforms:

• The library’s Moodle portal offers tools to assist with documentary research which complement the training provided on site.
• The PLEIADES portal to access the library catalogue and the student or researcher’s own personal account.