La Faurie – Municipal Media Library

In 2013, the municipality of La Faurie launched the project to transform the old railway station into a media library. Indeed, the municipal hall, which was converted into a library in 2008, was no longer sufficient to meet the demand of the Haut-Buëch Community of Communes. This includes all the municipalities of the canton, including La Faurie. 

The current library, of 50 m² and 70 m of shelving, is open to the inhabitants of the neighboring municipalities: Montbrand and St Julien en Beauchêne. An agreement has been signed with the two municipalities to allocate the operating costs. It will remain relevant for the new media library and will allow its spread throughout the Buëch valley.

The library’s wealth is based on the diversity of its collections. They come from funds lent by the Bibliothèque départementale des Hautes-Alpes (BDP) and from an own fund that grows a little more each year. It also has accessible computers for viewing the library catalogue and some digital resources.

It hosts several cultural events such as regular exhibitions, visits by storytellers, meetings of the book club and the permanence of a public writer twice a month. In addition, elementary school children change their books at the library every Friday afternoon. Nevertheless, despite the dynamism of the dozen volunteers, the activity of the library is limited by its size. 

In view of its good functioning for several years, the municipality now wishes to offer a better quality service in terms of space. The library will be moved to a historical site of the village: the old railway station, acquired by the municipality in 2010. It represents for the inhabitants a part of the communal heritage; therefore its external aspect will not undergo any noticeable transformations. Thanks to an extension of the ground floor, the building can become “the setting for discovery, general, political and social information, a reservoir of ideas, resources, sharing and development”.

To ensure secure access to the media library for all users and constant use, the area around it will be provided with suitable parking and an attractive and easy-to-access outdoor environment. 

The expansion of the building will accommodate a wider audience and more cultural activities. In addition, indoor and outdoor circulation will be easier. Similarly, more space means more collections available to the public. These will be more varied (digital, youth, videograms) and more important than today. The library also wants to equip itself with digital consultation and lending terminals (e-readers, tablets).

Thanks to the recruitment of a qualified and trained person in charge of reception, the public service can be optimized. Thus, the media library will be open at least 12 hours per week against only 5 hours currently.

The library keeps certain projects in perspective such as the porting of documents at home, the optimization of communication, the proposal of training and a partnership with the castle of La Faurie (common programming of events, loan of documentary funds). The municipality will also try to coordinate its cultural policy with that of the media library.

Architect : Daniel Ollivier (Sisteron)
Size of media library : 100 m²
Rehabilitation cost : €319,400 excluding tax
State subsidy (DRAC) €127,760 excluding tax (40%)

• Sheet produced by Charlotte Ferrari, intern at the DRAC PACA with the advisor for books and reading as part of a license of Public Management at the IMPGT, Institute of Public Management and Territorial Governance, Aix-Marseille University.