ABSTRACT
The mechanical systems and installations are among the best-kept secrets of the Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve. One of the finest public buildings of the nineteenth century, Sainte-Genevieve has served the university and the public for 160 years. When Henri Labrouste was appointed architect of the Sainte-Genevieve library in 1838, it had been almost ten years since he returned to Paris from his Grand Tour of Italy. At the Sainte-Genevieve, book storage was placed below the grand reading room and books were mechanically hoisted up from the archives. The library sits on the edge of Place du Pantheon with the main façade rotated 18 degrees west of due south. The library is shouldered by other buildings to the east and west and faces a narrow courtyard to the north. The reading room, lit by large arched clerestory windows, exhibits its main compositional elements with great clarity.
