Making the most of archive and library collections: a common purpose?

The Gaston Defferre Departmental Archives and Library, inaugurated in June 2006, arose from the political will to bring together the two services as a single body by broadening their respective missions while maintaining their specific characteristics. This article explores how their floor space was used to make the most of their respective collections, particularly in the case of shared premises. The author’s study of how the two services worked together to plan a calendar of cultural activities led him to identify a number of implications in terms of library science, strategy, and human resources, and raises questions about the floor space given over to collections in terms of distribution, quality, and overall attractiveness of the site.
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