This article describes how the university libraries in Montpellier have been established since the end of the 18th c. The archival sources retracing their history are scattered among various storage locations, so that the very teams entrusted with their safekeeping have lost the sense of the larger picture of this history. Although this narrative is mainly centred on the documentary collections (books and archives), it can also be cross-referenced to the scientific and medical collections. Taking the whole collections into consideration is essential to fully understand the university’s strategy when assembling and then managing these prestigious collections on a daily basis.
