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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Cercle de la Librairie building, located at 117 boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris 6e, was built between 1878 and 1879 by architect Charles Garnier, famous for also designing the Paris Opera. Sponsored by the Cercle de la Librairie, an employers' union founded in 1847 by the bookseller-editor Jules-Joseph Hébrard, this building was to unite book professionals (libraries, publishers, printers). Its architecture includes a rotunda surmounted by a dome, a double-revolution staircase, a professional library, and rooms dedicated to exhibitions and meetings. Inaugurated on 4 December 1879, it symbolizes the golden age of French publishing and the growing influence of professional unions under the Second Empire and the Third Republic.

The Cercle de la Librairie, initially dominated by the booksellers (68 of the 119 founding members), extended under Louis Hachette's presidency from 1864. The latter launched the construction of the current headquarters and created a technical library, enriched by donations. As early as 1880, the building hosted annual exhibitions on typography and printing, while participating in universal exhibitions. In 1886, the Circle adopted the status of trade union under the Waldeck-Rousseau Act, becoming a federation of specialized trade unions (binding, publishing, bookstore). The rotunda and the honorary staircase, classified as Historic Monuments in 1971, bear witness to its architectural and historical prestige.

In the 20th century, the building changed several times: the cultural centre of East Germany (1983-1990), the National School of Heritage (1992) and then the School of Journalism of Sciences Po (2004-2022). The Circle of Librairie, for its part, diversifies its activities with the creation of Electre (bibliographic database), Livres-Hebdo (weekly review), and Éditions du Cercle de la Librairie. The latter publish reference books, such as the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the book (2002-2011) or collections dedicated to the book's trades, thus perpetuating its central role in the French editorial ecosystem.

The architecture of the building, marked by Garnier's eclectic influence, combines neoclassical elements (rotonde, dome) and refined decorations, such as the mosaic frieze of smaltes and dors made by the Facchina workshop. Although the Circle no longer occupies the premises, the building remains a symbol of book history in France, while its activities continue through its subsidiaries, including Electre SA, generating a turnover of 15 million euros in 2007. The building, a private property, illustrates the transition between 19th century industrial heritage and contemporary cultural reuse.

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