This very constrained project, started in 2010 in the center of the capital, will be finished at the end of June.
And on September 17, it will be the full reopening to the public.
Richelieu dragged an austere image of a bookworm hole, that for example of the hermit Gustave Flaubert spending his day in the Cabinet of medals to examine ancient coins mentioned in his novel "Salammbô".
In addition to bringing it up to standard, it is this image that had to be broken, by making the places more open, functional and airy.
The former reading room frequented by Flaubert thus becomes part of the museum that the BnF will inaugurate for the European Heritage Days.
"These rooms, some of which were accessible to the public, were not designed as a museum. This time, it is on display and open to all," BnF president Laurence Engel told AFP.
With Cardinal Mazarin
One of the treasures on display is the throne of King Dagobert ("late 8th century-9th century", we read), in bronze, damaged by Napoleon I and repaired as best he could by his ironworker.
Behind him, the flagship space will be the completely renovated Mazarin gallery, 46 meters long, with Baroque frescoes.
At Cardinal Jules Mazarin's, where distinguished guests strolled in the 17th century, Parisians and tourists will observe gems from the collections, which change regularly.
A detail of the Mansart gallery at the National Library of France, September 28, 2021 in Paris BERTRAND GUAY AFP
The museum vocation of the site goes back a long way, recalls Ms. Engel: "The idea of showing collections to the public, during the royal era, an idea which is at the origin of the concept of a museum, dates from Louis XV. We read in documents that this public of curious people is not that of the Court of Versailles".
The big change is also behind the scenes.
Although the BnF had expanded with the inauguration in 1998 of the Grande Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand, Richelieu was still suffering from a crying lack of space.
Not to mention the dilapidation of the place.
They had to be emptied, renovated, and now filled.
The cases filled with volumes are followed with the eyes of the beginning to the end of the route by a curator for the most precious.
This work, which is nearing completion, was titanic.
Hokusai and Mozart
Example: “The Prints and Photographs Department has around 15 million images,” explains Corinne Le Bitouzé, curator within this division.
And to open a box of masterpieces by Hokusai, which "Japanese experts told us they did not know" after discovering them in Paris.
Richelieu contains many of these pearls of world cultural heritage.
When President Emmanuel Macron came to visit the site in September 2021, he was presented with, for example, a Roman silver dish from the 1st century, or the manuscript of Mozart's "Don Giovanni".
"This journey, like that, through the ages...", he was amazed.
(lr) Brigitte Macron, BnF President Laurence Engel, President Emmanuel Macron and Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot admire a Roman silver dish from the 1st century, on September 28, 2021 at the National Library of France in Paris Bertrand GUAY POOL/AFP/Archives
Julie Garel-Grislin, from the Department of Maps and Plans, opens a box: it is the Green Globe of 1507, the first where "America" is inscribed.
Obviously very fragile, it will benefit from ideal temperature and humidity conditions.
"Now we have the space to display our very large format cards vertically, instead of having to leave them permanently in rolls. That changes everything," she says.
The district, which has few green spaces, will also benefit from a new public garden, rue Vivienne, which "will enhance a set of papyriferous plants".
And a child not very tempted by the museum may prefer the majestic reading room, the Oval room, with its 9,000 comic strips in free access.
The work cost 248 million euros, indicates the website of the BnF.
© 2022 AFP