Bibliothèque Nationale

   The French national library, known to academics as the BN, was historically sited in the First arrondissement of Paris. As a deposit library, the BN receives a copy of every book and periodical published in France. It also contains the most important French collection of manuscripts and old printed books from before the Revolution. Previously located in the Rue Richelieu, in the 1st arondissement of central Paris, the library moved in 1996 to custom-designed new buildings beside the Seine in the 13th arondissement known as the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand. The last of France's "grands projects" of the 20th century, the building attracted criticism for environmentally-poor design - in particular for the idea of storing books in eighteen-story glass-clad skyscraper buildings.