Inaugurated on 16 November 1810 as a part of the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) of Aix-en-Provence, the library moved into a former match factory in 1989.

It also houses the Fondation Saint-John Perse and the Association des amis de Jules Isaac.

The general assembly of Provence quickly accepted the conditions expressed in his will for the legacy of his collections, and appointed an architect, J.

The library collection was started with a bequest from the estate of Jean-Baptiste Marie de Piquet, Marquess of Méjanes, and its first librarian was Jean-Joseph Rive.

Since, the librarians of the Bibliothèque Méjanes have been: This library of about 96,000 square feet is the central point of a public reading network which has three annexes.