Libraries

The Brussels-Capital Region’s cultural life is essentially centred on the two linguistic communities: the French Community and the Dutch-speaking Flemish Community.

These two institutions run libraries, too, where you can loan books and more often than not CDs and DVDs as well. You can go online at most public libraries or read reference works and magazines.

For French speakers

• In Brussels there are around sixty book libraries (FR) and five "PointCulture" and multimedia libraries (FR) where you can loan CDs, DVDs and games.
• Public libraries generally have a children’s section, but French speakers also have access to a dedicated children’s literature centre, the Centre de Littérature de Jeunesse de Bruxelles (FR).
• The Archives et Musée de la Littérature (FR) preserves and promotes the works of Belgian authors writing in French.

For Dutch speakers

• There are twenty or so approved libraries (NL), spread throughout the 19 Brussels communes. Some of them also loan out CDs, DVDs and CD-ROMs.
• The Archief en Museum van het Vlaams leven te Brussel (NL) preserves examples of the intangible cultural heritage of Dutch speakers living in Brussels, such as works by Flemish authors and printers, as well as documents of the Flemish movement in Brussels.

Specialist libraries

• The Royal Library of Belgium stocks a copy of every Belgian publication (FR/NL) and an extensive collection of old manuscripts, engravings and letters.
• The visually impaired can visit the bilingual library of the Ligue Braille (FR/NL) or the Œuvre nationale des Aveugles (FR).
• If you are looking for scientific works, you can use the university and college libraries. The City of Brussels also has a Library of Science and Technology (FR) , a Library of art (FR) and a Library of Teaching (FR).
• Most museumsalso have a specialised documentation centre or a library, like the Belgian Comic Strip Center.

Other languages

Most cultural centres of foreign embassies in Brussels have a documentation centre or a library. Some of them may also have DVDs and CDs in their own national language.