The Bibliothèque de Toulouse includes the Médiathèque José Cabanis, The Bibliothèque d'Etude et du Patrimoine and twenty of so district libraries. Its history started in the 18th century. At that time, the growth of its collections on both quantitative and qualitative levels was so hudge that the library came to be ranked in 1897 and relocated in 1935 on Périgord lane in the building constructed by the architect Jean Montariol.

In 2003, The Bibliothèque d'Etude et du Patrimoine was subjected to a vast renovation programme, covering a surface area of 9.000 m². It is in charge of the city's historical collection. Its main mission is to preserve, enlarge and highlight the written heritage. It also aims at developing a specialized literature on Toulouse and its region, as well as giving access to an actualized and diversified documentation on every field of knowledge. It also collects the regional copyright deposit.

The district libraries network was created in 1958 by the construction of the first library in the town centre. The systematic modernisation of the network goes along with a building renovation programme.

The Médiathèque José Cabanis construction ended in 2003. It is located on a new urban area named "quartier Marengo". The building was created by Jean-Pierre Buffi, an architect from Toulouse. Its surface area covers 13 500 m², displaying the public nearly 200.000 documents including books, CD's, DVD's, CD-ROM's. It also proposes access to the Internet, self-training course.... Cultural agendas are also organized in the two available Auditoriums, in the exhibition hall as well as in the "Piccolo Theatro" designed for children.

Gallery :

- Click on the photo for consult the gallery -