École Library
With over 17 000 documents available, the ISBA library is one of the most important libraries throughout the France art school network. It provides the students with up-to-date documentation on creation and its sociopolitical contexts through resources specialized in art history and extending to human sciences and social studies. The library is not only a vital information center but also a supporting actor in the individual artistic process of its visitors, taking the form of a space where reading, sharing, and researching collide.
Accommodating to the school’s rhythm and educational challenges, the library follows every student in their artistic journey by making available documents pertaining to workshops, conferences, exhibitions organized by ISBA’s cultural action services.
Inheriting from the Royal Academy, the library is a place of memory and history where resources related to architecture, archeology, graphic and decorative arts dating back to the 16th and 19th centuries can still be found.
Online index
You can access the library’s index through the OrpheeNX portal: https://isba-bibliotheques.besancon.fr/
This portal gives access to all the documents available at the ISBA library, as well as press articles in relevance with current events. You can also access the specialized art and design database (BSAD–Base Spécialisée Art et Design) created by the association “Bibliothèques d’écoles d’art en Réseau (BEAR)” which allows you to look for articles amongst ~300 magazines specialized in art and design.
Collections
The collections focus on contemporary art and are structured around the «Fronts et frontières» research unit developed by ISBA. The contemporary collection is mainly composed of theoretical and critical works, exhibition catalogues, artist monographs, and a wide range of specialized journals, the main source of information about young creators and current artistic debates.
Useful information
The library is open to the general public for on-site consultation and research.
Loans are open to the following audiences:
• ISBA students and alumni (including Erasmus and auditors);
• people following the public courses;
• students and researchers in art and art history;
• teachers in art, art history and visual arts (Education Nationale);
• artists;
• exhibition curators.
Opening hours
Monday: 14h-18h
Tuesday: 9h-12h and 14h-18h
Wednesday: 9h-12h and 14h-17h
Thursday: 9h-12h and 14h-17h
Friday: 9h-12h
Contact
Phone number: 03 81 87 81 34
E-mail: bibliotheque.accueil@isba.besancon.fr
Library manager: Séverine Vuillemin severine.vuillemin@isba.besancon.fr