The Valence Municipal Library, which was officially set up in 1834, in fact came down to us from the first public library which was opened in 1775 after the merger of the University and the Saint Ruf Abbey libraries.

In addition to the collections which came from these two libraries, the collections of the municipal library were made up of works confiscated during the French Revolution, gifts from the government and from private citizens, some exchanges and some purchases. Later, when the 1905 law stipulating the separation of the Church and State came into force, the library and the departmental archives recuperated books and manuscripts which formerly belonged to the Bishop of Valence’s palace, the ecclesiastical secondary school in Valence and the Romans seminary.

The municipal library became a listed municipal library in 1945. It has moved 3 times since it was founded. In 1834 it moved to the old Collège (secondary school), in 1911 it moved to the former bishop’s palace and then in 1983 it moved to the former Trinitarian convent, where it still is today.

The heritage-related collections total about 40000 documents. Amongst the most valuable documents are 208 manuscripts of which fifteen are medieval, the Book of Hours which was used by Rome (about 1480), together with 37 incunabula including the first book printed in Valence, the 15th century Breviary of the Order of Saint Ruf, all the engravings produced by Piranèse, the first edition of the Encyclopedia compiled by Diderot and d’Alembert and the first edition of the Description of Egypt, 6000 books of law, theology, literature, and history dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, 6 volumes of maps by Cassini de Thury dated 1744-1787, and two 18th century sets of illustrations of plants.

The local heritage collections have been built up as the result of confiscations from religious orders, from noble families, from the Petit Séminaire de Valence (Valence seminary) and the Grand Séminaire de Romans (Romans seminary), together with gifts and legacies. The most significant documents include the following:

• the works of Louis le Cardonnel, a priest and poet from Valence, the Dictionary of the Die dialect by the Abbé Moutier, the Ode to Victor Hugo, a manuscript by Gabriele d’Annunzio, given to Emile Loubet in 1904, and a local 19th century set of plant illustrations;
• the collection from the old archives of town of Valence, dating from the 14th century up to 1792, and the Valence hospital archives from 1313 to 1910;
• the Rochas collection (archives and manuscript notes dating from the 19th century);
• the Marius Villard collection, from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century;
• the Boimondau collection relating to the work of watch and clock makers in the middle of the 20th century;
• the Belat legacy, including a collection of Elzevir and a 19th century Koran on parchment which belonged to Achmet, the Bey of Constantine;
• the legacy of the library belonging to Paul Vincensini, a poet;
• 2500 picture postcards of the Drôme department.

The contemporary collection features productions from the Sétérée publishing house, the Jazz lithographies by Henri Matisse, published by Tiriade, and Pasiphaé by Henry de Montherlant, published by Marius Fabiani with original engravings by Henri Matisse.

Over the past few years, the Valence library has developed a policy for acquiring works relating to local heritage and first editions produced in Valence. Hence, we have amongst our most recent acquisitions: Comments on the status of a Dauphin, by Guy Pape, councillor in the Grenoble parliament, an incunabulum printed in 1496, and the Breviary of Agde, printed in Valence in 1510 by Jean Belon.

The Valence documentary network

The Public and University multimedia Library is at the heart of a network of 5 local libraries plus 3 specialist documentation centres at the Regional Fine Arts School, the Fine Arts and Archaeology Museum and the Centre for the Armenian Heritage. This documentary network also includes the 6 local libraries on Valence University sites. These 15 units share the same computer system, an overall catalogue and a set of on-line electronic resources. The central library, with a surface area of 4200 m² is both the municipal multimedia library and, since 1992, a university library for the Drôme-Ardèche University Centre, which has 4000 students. The collections are presented in thematic areas where the university documentation is totally integrated with the encyclopedic information, each area having a study room.

The Valence library network offers the public a wide range of services, such as inter-library loans, training courses in documentary research, group visits, multimedia workshops, visits to see the heritage-oriented collections, regular cultural events, etc. The network libraries also target specific sectors of the public via appropriate services, such as events for very young children, other events for schoolchildren, street libraries for non-sedentary people (gypsies), events at the local prison and in retirement homes, etc.