It has noteworthy collections and rare documents which earn it a French government designation of classée (‘listed’), meaning it is a library of national significance.

Two years before his death in 1738 he wrote a will leaving his mansion, other property, 3,000 books, manuscripts and scientific instruments to the academy on condition that its private library would move into the house and be open to all on three days a week.

The current Mériadeck building is one of the biggest public libraries in France with 27,000 square metres of floor space holding more than a million texts.

[7] The interior was redesigned over several years from 2004, partly because of the removal of an unusual and ambitious robotic book retrieval system, something more often found in academic research libraries in the USA.

[10] Over the centuries the library has acquired around half a million books, journals, manuscripts, pictures and other items representing the cultural heritage of Bordeaux, Aquitaine and beyond.

[17] The library's ongoing digitisation project is prioritising Bordeaux heritage, as well as making parts of the Montaigne and Montesquieu collections available in digital form.