Françoise Nyssen, Minister of Culture and Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, announced Thursday, April 12, 2018 the plan «NoctamBU + Sunday in Paris» A call for projects promoting the opening of university libraries on Sundays.
Opening university libraries on Sundays is a real challenge for students' academic success. Although successive plans have made it possible to make significant progress in extending the hours, the average weekly opening hours of the French BUs remain below the European average (61h in France against 67.5 hours in Europe).
In addition, the tension on the number of places is particularly strong in Paris intra-muros, which has an average place for 14 students and no university library open on Sundays. The goal is to quickly reach a place for 10 students and 5 BUs open on Sunday.
For Françoise Nyssen, France occupies a special place in Europe, it is time for its libraries to be more open like some of our neighbours, including university libraries. Libraries are pillars of our policy for the emancipation of citizens, especially youth.”
Review periods can be stressful for students. The government therefore wants to accompany and promote everyone’s access to quiet, open and documented places, every day of the week and especially during important moments such as reviews.” explains Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation.
This plan and this call for projects aim to support university libraries in Paris with more than 400 places in their opening project, at least 10 Sundays a year, primarily during revision periods. By 2019, they will allow the opening of 5 libraries with 2000 to 3000 work places on Sundays. A total of €1.6 million will be allocated to these five libraries between 2018 and 2022, to cover all expenses related to staff, operating and accommodation.
The selected projects will be announced by Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, in July 2018.