Like tobacconists or pharmacies, libraries want a symbol that allows them to be distinguished in the public space.
A call for applications has just been launched to design this sign.
The first could be affixed to the establishments during the fall.
It is found on the facade of all tobacco shops in France.
Since 1906, the red carrot has been the emblem of tobacconists who are required to affix this sign to indicate that they sell cigarettes.
The same is true for pharmacies, which all have the green cross on their fronts, or for newsagents, which display the famous yellow diamond with a red feather.
Like these businesses, the 16,000 libraries in France would also like to have their own distinctive sign in order to be more easily spotted and identified by users.
In 2018, a report entrusted by Françoise Nyssen, Minister of Culture at the time, to the academician Erik Orsenna already proposed to "create a common signage to mark the location of libraries everywhere in France".
In the months that followed, a process in this direction was initiated by the Association of Directors of Municipal Libraries and Intermunicipal Groupings of French Cities (ADBGV) before being put on stand-by by the health crisis.
The first signs affixed in the fall
But the idea is taking shape again with the launch in recent days of a call for applications to design a visual symbol for libraries in order to better highlight them.
"This sign should make people want to go through the door of the libraries by insisting on the fact that these are free places and accessible to all", underlines Malik Diallo, president of the ADBGV and director of the municipal libraries and the Champs Libres library in Rennes.
Until April 20, graphic designers, designers, artists and creators are therefore invited to submit their sign project for libraries.
Among the files, five of them will be selected for the final phase before the choice of the winner which will take place in June with a budget of 30,000 euros at stake.
"We can imagine the design phase of a prototype in the course of the summer and see the first signs unfold this fall", hopes Malik Diallo.
Unlike tobacconists, the sign will not be mandatory for libraries.
“We will already see how it takes but the idea is not to make it a label or something restrictive, he underlines.
Just a distinctive sign that each municipality will be free to affix to the building”.
Culture
Young people spend six times less time reading than surfing the Internet
Culture
"Language is stronger than anything," says Leïla Slimani
Books
Library
Culture
Reading
Society
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print