Presentation of the Library

The library of the Alliance Israélite Universelle was established in 1860 with the creation of the AIU. Throughout history, the library of the Alliance has developed along three lines: the acquisition of remarkable pieces of Hebrew literary heritage, the constitution of an erudition fund bringing together works of the best rabbis and academics in all areas of Jewish studies; and finally, the collection of documents of interest of the daily life and history of the different Jewish communities. 

The contents of the AIU library are known to be exceptional and represent a unique heritage that must be made accessible as much as possible to anyone curious to discover Jewish heritage through books, newspapers, photos, manuscripts, archives, etc. This is what we have been working on since several years with our digitalization projects, focusing on a few major areas in which we excel such as Judaism in the land of Islam, the Sephardic world and Judeo-Spanish culture, as well as Jewish intellectuals in France.