Bibliothèque Universitaire du Mans

The Le Mans University Library is the central library of the Le Mans Université campus, which has about 13,000 students. It offers more than 1,000 seats divided among group work rooms, lounge areas, and quiet study zones, with a collection of over 224,000 documents on the shelves and more than 300,000 digital resources. On-site services include lending and reservation of documents, printing, computer workstations and Wi-Fi, and personalized user support.

The building, completed in the mid-2000s, is noted for its architecture: designed by architects Laurent and Emmanuelle Beaudouin, it makes the most of natural light through zenithal light wells and cylindrical skylights, a periodicals room with curved concrete vaults inspired by Gaudí and Eladio Dieste, and two reading rooms with contrasting atmospheres.

A bit of history

The current university library was designed by architects Laurent and Emmanuelle Beaudouin and completed in the mid-2000s (opened around 2004–2005), with an area of roughly 9,000 m². The project responded to a heterogeneous campus site, seeking visual coherence for a set of disparate buildings; the dark brown north façade, in suspended panels, marks the main entrance along the boulevard.

Since its opening, the library has been the university's reference library for all disciplines, supplemented by associated libraries (law, science, humanities) across the various campuses.