1997年歲末因公訪法國公共電視臺。有機會前往法國國家圖書館新館參觀純屬巧
合，原先僅想蒐集一點介紹該館建築的資料，經法國外交部接待人員安排，我竟有幸隨一個
政治研究所的外藉學生團體重點參觀全館。全程約二小時，一路由外交部翻譯員為我細聲翻
譯接待館員的解說，心情既羨慕又忌妒，羨慕的並非人家的新館舍，忌妒的也非他們豐富的
館藏，而是法國國家各世代的領導人物，自十四世紀起就為子孫保存豐富的文化記錄，幸運
的是子孫也一路發揚光大承自祖先的遺產。本文部份根據訪問時觀察所得，大部分譯自該館
簡介。

The writer had visited the BnF on November, 1997. The new buildings
are very impressive. Nevertheless, the idea of building a library for the public
to lead them into a realm of reaserch of the BnF is even more thoughtful. It
seemes that the government of France has already made good cultural preparation
for her citizens of entering the 21 century. The article includes history of
National Franch Library, collections, buildings, bibliographic system, and
readers services. Most of the information is from the library's bulletin, some
are from the guidences of their librarian when the writer visited the library.
While writing this article, the writer couldn't stop comparing our own national
library with the BnF. May this article provide good references for our
librarians!