Funded by the agglomeration and the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, the mission of independent librarian Marie-Claude Pasquet at the media library will be visible to the general public in 2025.
Marie-Claude Pasquet exercises an unusual and little-known profession: that of a librarian specializing in heritage. In 2023, she was contacted by Amélie Thomassin, manager of the Bragarde media library, regarding the future of several thousand old books from the structure in more or less good condition. “A certain number of works, stored in the conservation room, were not in use. A question then arose: should they be kept or not?”recalls the professional who works independently for several libraries.
“Works that are never left abandoned”
After reflection, it was decided that the librarian would carry out a mission of approximately four months in the Bragarde structure. “The first activity began last year. I drew up an inventory of the works, carried out a major sorting of the books to keep or not according to their historical value”she explains. Books not kept in the media library were donated to associations or destroyed. “This is the story of a library: part of it lives and part of it dies.”declares Marie-Claude Pasquet philosophically. This part of her mission completed, she carried out the cataloging of the sorted works.
“Cataloging consists of describing in a computer way, on a notice, each work based on its author, its purchaser, its printing date, its publisher, its theme. Sometimes, all these elements are not in the book It is therefore necessary to carry out some sort of investigation in order to have as much information as possible which will be available in the national record file and to the general public.. A work often made from the title page of the book. The Saint-Dizier media library includes around 4,000 old works. “The oldest dates from 1563. It was published in Paris and has law as its theme.”notes Marie-Claude Pasquet.
Save collections
Second oldest work in the municipal structure, a Latin dictionary from 1583. “There are no manuscripts in the Bragarde media library. It also contains newspapers including a copy of a Haut-Marne newspaper dating from 1815 or 1816. Only three places in France keep a copy each, with the departmental archives of Haute-Marne “. A unique fact in a structure which has suffered the ravages of time. “In its history, it has moved many times. Official traces of its beginnings date from 1835 or 1838 in a municipal deliberation. A municipal council which voted credits for the acquisition of books in order to enrich the collections of the structure “.
There are also works belonging to the State loaned by libraries in other cities. This practice of purchases and loans was common in the 19the and in the 20the centuries. “Works were duplicates. They were then sent back to Paris and then returned to the provinces. This is why we found works belonging to the Langres library in Saint-Dizier.”. A Bragarde city ravaged by the fire of October 8, 1825. Several municipal buildings were affected, including the library. Around 7,000 books were recovered following this event, but not all of them.
“There is a printed catalog from 1910 on which I rely to reconstruct the content of the media library”. A painstaking job which will end in February or March 2025 with the processing of local documents. Like other works, they will then be made available to the general public, for a dive back in time, page after page.
