The decision in July 1988 to build a new library in Paris has been the starting point of a deep change in every field of activity for the French national library, which combines the old Bibliothèque nationale in the Rue de Richelieu with the Bibliothèque de France in Tolbiac in what is now known as the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). The collections will be divided between two sites: the Rue de Richelieu building will retain the special collections, in improved storage conditions and with better access; while the printed and audiovisual collections are being transferred to the new building at Tolbiac between the end of 1996 and the end of 1998. 370,000 books will be acquired specially to fill gaps in previously neglected areas such as law, economics and science. A new OPAC, due for completion in 1998, will provide access to merged files of the BnF, including 4.5 million converted records from the old hand-written catalogue. Next to the research reading rooms, which are for registered users only, will be ten reading rooms open to the general public for a fee, which will have 380,000 books on open access. The OPAC will be accessible remotely, as will the seat and book reservation system. A new preservation centre has been built in Marne-la-Vallée, 20 km east of Paris; there is a special emphasis on deacidification. There are two digitization programmes, for 100,000 texts and 300,000 pictures; negotiation is taking place with copyright holders. Experimental access to several bibliographic databases and digitized collections is already proving successful. The new reference library in the new building opened in December 1996 and the research library will open in 1998.