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Bpi and You
Since its opening in February 1977, the Bpi has chosen to highlight documentary films, in addition to its printed materials, by selecting high quality works, both in terms of their content and their form. The result is a collection of more than 2,300 titles to which 200 new titles are added each year, either bought directly on DVDs or through the purchase of rights for French public libraries.
The collection of documentary films devoted to staged productions has been enriched in recent years by films and recordings of live shows (more than 200 concerts, operas, plays, ballets), which provides a historical perspective of these disciplines and promotes public awareness of contemporary works.
The Bpi also has an original collection of animated films aimed at adults and teenagers: 300 short- and full-length films, representing different techniques and the best authors.
Today, 3,000 films can be viewed on 132 multimedia screens in the Library's different Areas (except for music films and filmed concerts which one can only watch in the Music Area). In addition, there is a Films Area, located on Level 3, with 10 viewing stations that must be reserved.
A part of the collection is composed of commercially released DVDs, which cannot be copied and are shown using a robot. The Bpi possesses two robots with a current storage capacity of 1,800 films. DVDs can be watched by only one user at a time. A notice on the screen announces when a film is already being watched. Films for which the rights have been acquired from the producers and distributors are stored on a server with a capacity of 1,000 hours, that can be accessed by 100 viewers at high debit at the same time.