MUNICIPAL LIBRARY OF LYON

What MUNICIPAL LIBRARY OF LYON does

The Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon (BmL) is the public municipal library network of the City of Lyon, France, operating as a government_state_entity under the authority of Ville de Lyon. It runs 16 branch libraries covering all 9 arrondissements of Lyon plus a mobile bibliobus serving the 2e, 5e, and 8e arrondissements biweekly. The Part-Dieu library serves as the network's central pole and is recognized as the largest municipal library in France, housing specialized collections, an auditorium, exhibition spaces, a café-restaurant, and the Artothèque art-lending service. The institution employs 501-1,000 staff and serves the general public, children and youth, people with disabilities, educators, and researchers through dedicated programming and accessibility services.

The library's technology stack centers on a digital catalog (catalogue.bm-lyon.fr), the Numelyo digital heritage platform for digitized manuscripts and archival materials, the human-staffed Guichet du Savoir reference service, and 13 Espaces Numériques (Digital Spaces) offering free computer and internet access. It operates a FabLab at the Lacassagne branch with 3D printing, Arduino, and VR/AR equipment. The business model is primarily municipal budget-funded, supplemented by tiered subscription memberships ranging from free (Culture Junior under 18, Connexion for welfare recipients) to €38/year for the Culture premium card, which bundles access to 6 museums, 5 cinemas, and 14+ performing arts venues. Print/scan/photocopy services are offered on a pay-per-use basis. Payment processing leverages PayBox, with Pass Culture and Gonettes (local complementary currency) as additional accepted methods. The institution is CNIL-compliant under French data protection law.

Name

MUNICIPAL LIBRARY OF LYON

Legal name

Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon

Website

https://bm-lyon.fr

Company type

Public

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

The Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon is the public municipal library network of the City of Lyon, France, operating 16 branch libraries plus a mobile bibliobus across all 9 arrondissements, serving Lyon residents through lending, digital resources, heritage collections, and cultural programming.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Library Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Libraries and Archives (519210)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Libraries & Information Services (BPAIACAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Library Operations & Community Branch Management (EDAEAGAC), Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF), Library-Based Learning Programs (Public Libraries) (EDAAAFAA)

Keywords

• Public library services
• Municipal cultural services
• Heritage digitization
• Community media lending
• Digital inclusion programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices16 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Public Funding from Ville de Lyon: Primary funding from the municipal government of Lyon as a public service institution. Operations funded through city budget allocations.
2. Subscription Memberships: Annual and short-term subscription fees for borrowing privileges and remote digital access. Multiple tiers ranging from free (under 18, certain welfare recipients) to €38/year for full Culture card.
3. Printing and Photocopying Services: Pay-per-use printing, scanning, and photocopying services at all 16 libraries. Color printing available at Part-Dieu and Bachut only.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon operates a public library network of 16 physical branches and one mobile bibliobus serving Lyon's 9 arrondissements, providing book and multimedia lending, on-site reading, digital resources, cultural programming, and heritage conservation. Its core offering combines tiered membership subscriptions (Connexion €9/yr, Biblyo €18/yr, Culture €38/yr, free Culture Junior under 18) with free public-access services including computer/WiFi use, digital training, art lending (Artothèque), and the Numelyo digitized heritage platform.

Product overview

The Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon operates a network of 16 physical libraries and one mobile library (bibliobus), offering a multi-tiered subscription system (Biblyo, Culture, Culture Junior, Connexion) with varying benefits including document loans, museum access, and cultural discounts. The library provides extensive digital services through Numelyo (digital library), Guichet du Savoir (Q&A service), L'Influx (webzine), and 13 digital spaces. Key products include the Artothèque for art borrowing, FabLab maker spaces, and heritage digitization services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Biblyo Subscription Standard annual membership offering 20 document loans for 3 weeks across all collections including books, reviews, comics, DVDs, vinyls, music CDs, e-readers, Daisy readers, vinyl record players, CD/DVD players, and musical instruments. Includes remote access to digital resources including VOD, press, and magazines. Targeted at adult individuals (ages 26+).
• Culture Card Subscription Premium annual subscription at €38/year combining all Biblyo services with free unlimited access to 6 City of Lyon museums (permanent and temporary exhibitions), reduced rates for Biennales and 5 additional museums, reduced rates at 5 cinemas (Cinéma Lumière, Institut Lumière), and preferential rates for performances at 13+ partner venues including Opéra de Lyon, Auditorium-ONL, Nuits de Fourvière, Maison de la Danse, TNP, and Biennale de Lyon.
• Culture Junior Subscription Free annual subscription for users under 18 years old providing 20 document loans for 3 weeks across youth collections (books, comics, reviews, music CDs, language methods, DVDs, and graphic art from artothèque). Includes access to youth programming, homework support resources, and museum access for permanent collections.
• Connexion Subscription Basic annual subscription from age 18 at €9/year offering 2 hours/day computer access (internet and office software) across all libraries, remote access to digital training resources (homework help, languages, driving license), and printing/scanning/photocopying services. Free for unemployed, RSA recipients, disabled persons, non-taxpayers, and refugees.
• Numelyo Digital Library Lyon's digital library platform providing access to digitized heritage collections including Merovingian and Carolingian manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, prints, photographs, Lyonnais press from 1790-1944, posters, archives, and virtual exhibitions. Accessible at numelyo.bm-lyon.fr for researchers, academics, and the general public.
• Guichet du Savoir Question-and-answer digital service where librarians respond within 72 hours to user queries on any documentary or informational topic. Operated in partnership with a network of libraries; freely available to the public at guichetdusavoir.org.
• Bibliobus Mobile Library Mobile library service — the 17th library of the Lyon network — visiting the 2e, 5e, and 8e arrondissements every two weeks to bring library services closer to residents in underserved neighborhoods.
• Artothèque Art Lending Service Specialized art lending service allowing subscribers to borrow original contemporary art works. Part-Dieu library handles all art lending and returns. Insurance required; works valued between €200 and €4,000.
• Digital Resources (Press, VOD, E-learning) Remote digital services for library subscribers including access to over 300 weekly and monthly press publications, films via VOD, online courses (homework help, languages, driving license), and accessible content for adults and children.
• Espaces Numériques (Digital Spaces) 13 digital spaces across the library network offering free computer access, internet, office software, digital workshops (web browsing, blog creation, photo editing, computer basics), and adapted computers for visually impaired users. All workshops are free with registration.
• FabLab Lacassagne Maker space at Lacassagne library offering computer-controlled tools including 3D printer, vinyl cutter, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Makey Makey, augmented reality, and virtual reality, with specialized animator support.
• Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu Central flagship library of the Lyon network and the largest municipal library in France. Houses specialized collections, an auditorium for concerts/theater/conferences, exhibition spaces, digital spaces, café-restaurant, and grainothèque (seed library).
• PatrimoineNumérique Heritage Collections Digital heritage collections available through Numelyo including ancient manuscripts, archives, digitized prints, photographs, and local documentation dating from the Merovingian period to the present.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and important.

• Musée des Beaux-Arts de LyoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCulture card provides free access to permanent collections and temporary exhibitions at the Musée des Beaux-Arts for Culture subscribers.
• MAC (Musée d'Art Contemporain)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCulture card holders receive free access to MAC exhibitions.
• Gadagne (Musée de l'Histoire de Lyon et Musée des Arts de la Marionnette)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIncluded in Culture card museum access benefits.
• Musée de l'Imprimerie et de la Communication GraphiquecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of Culture card free access network.
• Musée Henri Malartre (Automobile)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCulture card includes free access to the automobile museum.
• CHRD (Centre d'Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIncluded in Culture card museum access network.
• Cinéma LumièremajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCulture card provides reduced-rate cinema tickets at Cinéma Lumière.
• Institut LumièremajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReduced cinema rates for Culture card holders.
• Opéra de LyonmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferential ticket rates for Culture card holders at Opéra de Lyon.
• Auditorium-ONL (Orchestre National de Lyon)majorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCulture card holders receive preferential rates for concerts.
• Maison de la DansemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReduced rates for dance performances at Maison de la Danse.
• Biennale de LyonmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReduced admission rates to the contemporary art Biennial for Culture card holders.
• Nuits de FourvièremajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreferential rates for summer festival performances.
• AcceoimportantTechnology or IntegrationAccessibility service enabling deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons to contact libraries via real-time transcription or French Sign Language translation.
• Association Bib' à Domicile (BIB'A DOM')importantStrategic or Co-development PartnerHome delivery service for mobility-impaired patrons; volunteers borrow and deliver documents to homebound users.
• Bibliothèque à DomicileimportantStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation managing home library services for people unable to visit branches.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Médiathèques de Strasbourg: Municipal media-library network of Strasbourg operating across multiple branches. Peer in municipal public library operations across a different major French city, with overlapping product range (subscriptions, digital resources, programming).
• Bibliothèques de Bordeaux: Municipal library network of Bordeaux, another major French city's public library system. A regional municipal-library peer with comparable subscription tiers, branch network, and programming model, but serving a different territorial market.

Emerging players

• Internet Archive: Nonprofit digital library offering free universal access to digitized books, manuscripts, audio, video, and web archives. Comparable to BmL's Numelyo platform as a digital heritage and preservation player, though operating without physical branches and at global scale.

Direct peers

• Médiathèques de Toulouse: Municipal media-library network of the City of Toulouse with multiple branches, tiered subscriptions, and digital services. A direct municipal-public-library peer comparable in governance, multi-branch structure, and cultural programming model.
• Bibliothèques de Marseille: Municipal library network of Marseille, the BMVR (Bibliothèque municipale à vocation régionale), with multi-branch operations and regional-mission role. Comparable to BmL as a large French municipal library system serving a major metropolitan area.
• Bibliothèques de Paris: The municipal public library network of the City of Paris, operating 17 branches under a tiered subscription model (with free and paid access). Highly comparable to BmL in mission, scale (multi-branch network serving a major French city), governance (municipal entity), and product breadth (subscriptions, cultural partnerships, digitization programs).

Broad incumbents

• Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF): France's national library, operating the Gallica digital library platform and housing France's most extensive heritage collections. A broad incumbent comparable to BmL's heritage/archival function at a national scale — including Numelyo-style digitization and rare-manuscript stewardship — though BmL is municipal and BnF is national.
• OverDrive / Libby: Global digital lending platform used by public libraries worldwide to deliver e-books, audiobooks, and streaming media to patrons. Substitutes and complements BmL's own digital resources offerings (press, VOD, online courses) and is the dominant digital-reading infrastructure layer that municipal libraries integrate with rather than compete with directly.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/biblyon
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/bmlvideo
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Biblioth%C3%A8que-municipale-de-Lyon/471119223038538
• Instagraminstagram.com/bm_lyon
• Pinterestfr.pinterest.com/biblyon

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MUNICIPAL LIBRARY OF LYON