The EFR is the successor to the Institut de Correspondance Archéologique, created in 1829 to accommodate researchers from outside Rome.

Composed largely of French and German scholars, it was permanently closed as a result of the Franco-Prussian War.

The EFR is managed by a Director and is divided into three sections (Antiquity, Middles Ages, Modern Period), each with its own vice-director.

Today the collections of the library of the École française de Rome are accessible, largely on open shelves, to all scholars and researchers who make a justified request.

[1] With almost 215,000 printed documents, these constitute the largest French library outside the territory of France and cover all areas of archaeology, history and social sciences relating to Rome, Italy and the central Mediterranean, from Prehistory to the present day.