Libraries in Monaco

Monaco is small, and so is its library map: one municipal media library for everyone, a heritage department for researchers, and one specialist library that visitors often stumble on in the old town. Here is what each one offers and who it is for.

At a glance

Médiathèque Caroline — the public library

The Mairie's new media library opened on 11 December 2025 in the Pasteur block, at 5 promenade Honoré II. It replaced the Bibliothèque Louis Notari and brought four former services together: the lending library, the vidéothèque-sonothèque, the children's library and the ludothèque. With more than 2,500 m², around 200,000 documents and a 118-seat auditorium, it is by far the largest library in the Principality.

• Hours (1 September–31 July): Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10:00–18:30, Thursday 13:00–18:30, closed Monday and Sunday. Shorter hours in August.
• Membership: free, in person, with an ID and a signed form (parental authorisation for minors).
• Loans: unlimited items (except video games) for three weeks, renewable once.
• Contact: +377 93 15 29 40, mediatheque@mairie.mc. Buses 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 (stops Honoré II or Place d'Armes).

Inside you will find a press lounge, a study room (the salle Louis Notari), a Monaco shelf with reference works and local news, a "green and solidarity" corner on ecology, a digital room with free workshops, a manga bar and video-game area for teenagers, and reading nooks for toddlers. Our full guide to the Médiathèque Caroline covers membership, digital resources and services in detail.

Fonds patrimonial — Monaco's memory

The Médiathèque's heritage department sits nearby in L'Hélios, 3 promenade Honoré II (+377 93 25 22 58, fondspatrimonial@mairie.mc) and is open by appointment only. Its regional collection covers the history of Monaco and the neighbouring lands — the County of Nice, Provence, Piedmont and Liguria — through old and recent books, manuscripts, typescripts, photographs, maps and plans, posters, prints, drawings and paintings.

Highlights include the municipal archives of Monaco, the papers of the Monegasque-language poet Louis Notari, the archive of the architect Eugène Robellaz, Marcel Pagnol manuscripts in the Pastorelly publishing archive, and a large collection of old press. The Fonds patrimonial also manages Monaco's legal deposit (see our library quick reference).

Princess Grace Irish Library — a surprise in the old town

Founded on 20 November 1984 by Prince Rainier III in tribute to Princess Grace, whose grandfather was born in County Mayo, the library occupies the first floor of the former town house of Félix Gastaldi, mayor of Monaco for 39 years, at 9 rue Princesse Marie-de-Lorraine in Monaco-Ville. It is a non-profit institution under the aegis of the Fondation Princesse Grace.

At its heart are Princess Grace's own Irish books and her collection of Irish-American sheet music, bought in 1978 from a Philadelphia collector. Around 12,000 books have been added since 1984. On display you may see a first edition of Joyce's Ulysses (1922), the Annals of the Four Masters, a facsimile of the Book of Kells, a 17th-century atlas of Ireland, and paintings by Jack B. Yeats and Louis le Brocquy.

• Hours: Monday–Thursday 9:00–17:00, Friday 9:00–16:00; closed weekends, public holidays, August, and 24 December–2 January.
• Entry: free, with a short guided tour if staff are available.
• Contact: +377 93 50 12 25, info@pgil.mc, pgil.mc.
• Getting there: a five-minute walk from the Prince's Palace. Drivers should use the Chemin des Pêcheurs car park (exit by the Oceanographic Museum).

Children are welcome — there is a young readers' section — but under-10s must come with an adult. The library also runs a programme of evening talks in English; see reading and literary life in Monaco.

Related

• Médiathèque Caroline listing · Princess Grace Irish Library listing
• Monaco-Ville district
• Rainy-day ideas in Monaco
• Museums in Monaco