FAQs If you do not find the answer to your questions below regarding practical information for the summer program in Paris, please check the FAQs page.
Lodging
Participants in the summer program are welcome to make their own arrangements or reserve a room at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris (approximately $900). In the past, most participants have succeeded in finding reasonably priced apartments via Airbnb.
Libraries There are a number of libraries and archives affiliated with the EHESS. Click here for a list. They all have specific restrictions, but you will likely qualify if you are a professor or graduate student. As with most other libraries in Paris, they do not have open stacks.
The Bibliothèque interuniversitaire Sorbonne has specific restrictions, but you will likely qualify if you are a professor or graduate student. As with most other libraries in Paris, it does not have open stacks.
The Pompidou Center has a good public library in the center of the city, although it can be busy with students. It does have the advantage of having open stacks.
There are numerous municipal libraries that are usually relatively nice places to work, and they have open stacks. You can search your neighborhood here.
Here is a first-hand account of other libraries, prepared by a 2019 participant in the Paris workshop:
BNF (François-Mitterand, Opéra, Arsenal and Richelieu)
The Bibliothèque Nationale de France has four sites throughout the city (listed on the website). You can browse through their catalogue online, and they have a lot of stuff digitized on Gallica that you can access and download without registering.
In order to use the facilities (reading rooms, etc.), you need to go to either François-Mitterand or Richelieu and buy a pass for the research library, which costs from 10 to 35 euros, depending on how long you want it to last (35 is for a whole year, the others are either 10 or 20 days I think). You’ll need to bring some sort of student ID or document that specifies that you’re a doctoral student. At Arsenal, they told me they could give me a temporary pass for one or two days, but that they’d rather I completed registering if I intended to come more often.
I’ve been to François-Mitterand and Arsenal. The first is gigantic and super bureaucratic, which I found overwhelming in a bad way, but it does have more room and books available. The second is really nice to work at, but might not have the books that you need, though I think I remember them saying that you could request books from the other libraries to read there. One important thing to know is that none of them allows you to take the books home with you, all of them can only be consulted on the premises.
I haven’t been yet, but I know that registration is free for the first 15 days, then it costs 10 euros for a year. You need to pre-register online on this page, then come by in person with student ID proving you’re a grad student to get your card.
Registration is free and fast, only student ID is needed. The Pierrefitte-sur-Seine site is far, but super nice and has A LOT of fascinating archives. Internet and computers are available. Archives must be requested on the website the day before (and before 3pm), after registering in person.
