Libraries through the lens Reims Library, Champagne, France
In this special tech focused issue of Information Professional, Libraries through the lens returns to a previous column as we take a look behind the scenes at Reims Library.
The library first featured on these pages in May 2024, with an exterior shot of the 1920’s art deco style Carnegie-funded library. Photographer Thomas Guignard said: “The city of Reims in the Champagne region of France was extensively destroyed during the First World War. Its reconstruction was partly funded by American donations, including that of Andrew Carnegie who offered 200,000 dollars for building a new library. “Departing from the architectural style of the majority of Carn- egie libraries in North America, which was strictly mandated by
Rewired 2025
the donor’s foundation, the Reims library is built in the flamboy- ant Art-Déco style that was in vogue in the 1920s. The library was designed by local architect Max Sainsaulieu and constructed between 1921 and 1927.”
On this occasion we move inside to see how new relatively recent advances in tech have been sympathetically incorporated into the art deco word panelling. The image shows the online catalogue access point, hidden behind secret doors made to resemble a traditional card cataloguing cabinet. The neat solution highlights how libraries are constantly changing how they deliver services, welcoming new technologies while retaining the core principles that underpin what it means to be a library.
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