The “Biblio.”: an ideal miniature library

The “Biblio.bato” boat first weighed anchor along the banks of the Garonne in Bordeaux in October 2011. Since then, this ephemeral space has been a fine example of a new library concept found in many Western countries: the “bibliopoint” or “biblio.” (punning on the word “point”, which also means a full stop). The “biblio.” is a new kind of outreach library open to all users, not just those who would otherwise have difficulty in accessing the service. It is small and deliberately open to all sectors of society, like a miniature library located in the heart of the virtual and physical fluxes of the modern city, like “points” scattered among the daily lives of the local inhabitants. Can the “biblio.”, which offers the opportunity to test a range of experiments on a local, human scale, still really be called a library?
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