Enssib and the preservation of special collections in France

Abstract

What kind of formal training and continuing education are provided in France for special collection librarians, and how do they prepare librarians for the variety of educational roles they have to play? To answer these two questions I will mostly rely on my experience of ten years as director of Enssib, the school that has a monopoly on the initial training of all French librarians and provides most of their continuing education, hoping this will be of interest to our Italian partners with whom we work to define “new professional figures” dedicated to the preservation of cultural artefacts.