The State and the public libraries

Study of the legal grounds in the control maintained by the Government on public libraries (municipal and central lending libraries). They are based on the principle of patrimony (holdings stemming from the confiscations during the French Revolution, subscriptions of the 19th century, books gained from pre-emption, copyright) and on the principle of shared compétence : the Government keeps a technical control only on the modes of enforcement of a policy. The ministry of Culture and Communication, the General inspectorate for libraries and, if necessary, the Government commissioners are the authorities in charge of the control. Because of the lack of laws, this control is fragile and fluctuating.
Read