Relocation of the old and precious collections of the Carpentras library

Secure transfer of heritage collections: a tailor-made move to preserve the treasures of the Carpentras library.

Our Bovis Escolan agency in Aix-en-Provence (13) intervened in 2022 and early 2023 for the relocation of the old and precious collections of the municipal library of Carpentras in the Vaucluse (84).

The complete relocation of the Carpentras library

Already commissioned several months ago by the city of Carpentras for the partial relocation of the public library and the media library, our agency is this time working as a subcontractor for the specialized company in charge of the conservation, restoration and dusting of the old and precious collections.

The Inguimbertine Library, one of the most important libraries in France

The library owes its name to Bishop Joseph-Dominique d'Inguimbert. The latter, before being appointed bishop of Carpentras, was the librarian of Cardinal Corsini. He brought back from Rome about 4,000 volumes, before enriching his collection by buying several libraries of aristocrats and prelates in France.

Subsequently, the library's collection was enriched by the collection bequeathed by Casimir Barjavel, a doctor and scholar, former mayor of Carpentras, who offered his library to the city.

The library now has a collection of 250,000 volumes, including 100,000 old books, 3,000 manuscripts, 4,000 periodicals, but also many works of art (paintings, sculptures and works of art).

A new cultural centre at the Hôtel Dieu

For a few years now, the municipality of Carpentras has embarked on a very ambitious project, with the creation of a new cultural centre in the buildings of the Hôtel Dieu. This former eighteenth-century hospital with its grandiose architecture already houses the public library and the media library, on the ground floor. On the first floor, the Inguimbertine library-museum will be presented to the public in 2024, with the possibility of visiting part of the reserves.

A complete relocation of the collections

Our teams carried out this move in several stages:

• Packing and crating of books at the place of departure

• Palletizing book cases

• Temporary storage of part of the collections in an air-conditioned and secure warehouse belonging to the town hall of Carpentras,

• Gradual transport of pallets of old and precious books to the Hôtel Dieu for their reinstallation

Among the works transferred by Bovis Escolan are:

• Ancient manuscripts, the oldest of which in the library dates back to the ninth century,

• Incunabula, the very first printed books, between 1450 and 1501,

• Printed works from the sixteenth to the twentieth century

• Musical scores

• Old municipal archives

Careful protection of the new premises

Before launching the transfer of the collections to the arrival site, our teams carefully protected the new premises. In addition to the brand new lifts, our teams have created runways to protect the parquet floors of the Hôtel Dieu.

A rigorous reintegration of the shelves

A library move is a matter for specialists. The Bovis Group is recognized as an expert in this field.

Extremely rigorous monitoring of the call numbers and inventory numbers is essential both when the works are collected and when they are reintegrated at the place of arrival. Our team also positions the "ghosts" that make it possible to identify books that have been taken off the shelves or have been permanently lost in the past. Finally, the restored structures are reintegrated into the collections as they are transferred.

In total, this move concerned 5,000 linear metres moved:

• 180 pallets left in buffer stock

• 90 pallets in direct transfer

• In total: about 4,500 book boxes have been moved

Given the value of the funds, we have taken out specific insurance to cover each of the transports of this extraordinary move.

In savoir plus : https://inguimbertine.carpentras.fr/