| Country: | France |
| Type: | Public library |
| Established: | 1767 |
| Ref Legal Mandate: | Code général des collectivités territoriales, art. L 1422-2 & R 1422-2; Code du patrimoine, art. L 310-2 |
| Location: | 117 Rue de la Fonderie, 59500 Douai |
| Collection Size: | about 250,000 works (including 600 medieval manuscripts and 300 incunables) |
| Director: | Guillaume Klaes |
| Website: | http://www.bm-douai.fr |
| Phone Num: | 03.27.97.88.51 |
The , now (after the Douai-born poet Marceline Desbordes-Valmore) is a library in Douai, France. Founded in 1767, it was bombed on August 11, 1944.[1] The library reopened in 1955, in a new building designed by the architect Maurice Coasnes.[2]
The special collections ("réserve patrimoniale") include 607 medieval manuscripts (many of which were confiscated at the suppression of Anchin Abbey and Marchiennes Abbey during the French Revolution), over 300 incunables, a considerable number of works printed in Douai on hand-operated presses from 1569 onwards, and the literary remains (letters and manuscripts) of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786-1859).[3]