The library of the Institute of Geography [fr], located at 191 rue Saint-Jacques, is attached.

It is a medieval institution of the Sorbonne, which evolved over the centuries as part of the University of Paris.

[4] In the 1700s, the Jesuits, before leaving the Sorbonne, gave away their buildings and books to the University of Paris.

In the late 1800s, after the Napoleonic era, the library of the university started functioning from the Bibliothèque de la Sorbonne.

The Lycée Louis-le-Grand closed in 1793 and the library materials were moved to a dépôt littéraire named "Louis la Culture" at the Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis Church.

In 1823, the library moved across the rue Saint-Jacques to settle in the current building, constructed in the seventeenth century.

Henri Paul Nénot designed the "new Sorbonne" which was built from 1885 to 1901, though its collections moved there in 1897; it provided seating for 300.

This included the creation of a single storey hall with Richelieu and Sorbon galleries, as well as new reading rooms.

The Library is normally open six days a week : Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 09.00 - 20.00 / Thursday 12.00 - 20.00 / Saturday 10.00 - 19.00 From July to September 15 : Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday : 10.00 - 19.00 / Thursday : 12.00 - 19.00 The library is situated at the Sorbonne building.

The library consists of five sections: Within the general humanities and social sciences, the Sorbonne Library has however developed some areas of excellence: history (excluding contemporary history), geography, philosophy and French literature.

The library also acquired documents in religious sciences, and English language and literature, German, Spanish and Italian.

It contains about three million volumes,[10] with more than 18,000 printed theses and 15,000 on microfiche, 17,750 paper periodicals titles of which 4,370 still exist (among them a large majority in foreign languages), as well as a broad selection of electronic journals.