User:3-2-4 start/Bibliothèque Lucien-Deiss

The Lucien-Deiss Library is the library of the French province of the Spiritans. Today, it holds some 80,000 books on theology, ethnology, law, etc., including rich collections on Africa and the West Indies, and around forty-five specialized journals.

Presentation
The Lucien Deiss Library is open every day of the week, especially to students, teachers and researchers. For a number of years, it organized an exhibition of antiquarian books for the Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days). The Spiritus magazine, published by a group of missionary congregations, is also based here. It is part of the Association des bibliothèques chrétiennes de France network.

History
As early as the 1700s, the Seminaire du Saint-Esprit in Paris set up a library to serve professors and students preparing to go on mission. In the 1850s, it was considerably enriched by Fr. Mathurin Gaultier (1803-1869). The Gaultier collection comprised some 10,000 volumes.

In 1959, the library moved to Chevilly for more space. It was previously located on rue Lhomond in Paris. It bears the name of Fr. Lucien Deiss (1921-2007), a composer of religious songs and Spiritan exegete, who was instrumental in the liturgical renewal before and after Vatican II.

Roger Le Déaut (1923-2000), a Spiritan and professor of Aramaic and Targumic language and literature at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and Charles-Robert Ageron (1923-2008), a historian specializing in French colonization in Algeria, were among the major contributors to the collection.