Philanthropic movements have been active in the field of libraries in France. The privileged moment to exert this philanthropy was the nineteenth century, when organizations such as the Franklin Society or the League of Public Teaching, organized by Jean Macé, successfully developed the network of popular libraries which knew its hour of glory in the last thirty years of the nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, the public networks taken care of by the state and later by local authorities grew. But their history takes its origin and sometimes crosses the one of new endeavors of a philanthropist nature. Most of these initiatives took place at the beginning of the century around World War I with which more or less narrow explanatory links existed. In examining the details of the implementation of philanthropic initiatives at the beginning of the twentieth century; I will rely on three examples that I will seek to compare. The first deals with American philanthropy in France between 1916 and 1929 and its multiple forms. The second example is the creation by French industrialists Louise and Henri Leblanc of a Library and Museum of War at the beginning of World War I. The third initiative is that of a French benefactor, the fashion designer Jacques Doucet, who created a literary library dedicated to contemporary creation of works during World War I, after having founded a Library of Art and Archeology. These three initiatives were undertaken by different personalities whose motivations were varied. Their efforts represent different models of libraries and representations of knowledge and its distribution.
BT - Libraries & Culture IS - 2 LA - English N2 -Philanthropic movements have been active in the field of libraries in France. The privileged moment to exert this philanthropy was the nineteenth century, when organizations such as the Franklin Society or the League of Public Teaching, organized by Jean Macé, successfully developed the network of popular libraries which knew its hour of glory in the last thirty years of the nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, the public networks taken care of by the state and later by local authorities grew. But their history takes its origin and sometimes crosses the one of new endeavors of a philanthropist nature. Most of these initiatives took place at the beginning of the century around World War I with which more or less narrow explanatory links existed. In examining the details of the implementation of philanthropic initiatives at the beginning of the twentieth century; I will rely on three examples that I will seek to compare. The first deals with American philanthropy in France between 1916 and 1929 and its multiple forms. The second example is the creation by French industrialists Louise and Henri Leblanc of a Library and Museum of War at the beginning of World War I. The third initiative is that of a French benefactor, the fashion designer Jacques Doucet, who created a literary library dedicated to contemporary creation of works during World War I, after having founded a Library of Art and Archeology. These three initiatives were undertaken by different personalities whose motivations were varied. Their efforts represent different models of libraries and representations of knowledge and its distribution.
PY - 1996 SP - 447 EP - 465 T2 - Libraries & Culture TI - Philanthropy, Benefaction, and Libraries in France, 1916-1929 VL - 31 ER -