Page:Library Construction, Architecture, Fittings, and Furniture.djvu/322

298 chronological order. The principal entrance is in the centre of the south side, and projects from the main building. The vestibule gives admittance to a large central hall, and from this, on the right, the department of manuscripts and drawings is approached, and on the left that of the printed books. Each of these two large rooms is further divided by a central division into two parallel rooms, with a third running transversely across the building at either end.

A grand staircase leads from the entrance-hall to the reading-room on the first floor. It is of striking appearance. It is divided into two main aisles by sixteen iron columns in the centre, standing on piers, and carrying the arched iron roof. The books are contained in cases around the wall, four metres in height, with galleries approached by staircases in each corner of the room. The librarian's desk is in the centre of the room, and faces the entrance doors. The tables for readers are arranged in two rows on either side. There are fourteen in all, each seating 34 persons, and so accommodate 476 readers. The tables in the manuscript and book rooms underneath seat a similar number. The rooms on the ground floor are 7 metres in height, and the large reading-room is 15 metres at its highest point.

The building was erected at a cost of- $75,000, and houses the oldest public library in France. The following inscription on the staircase gives its history in a few words:—