Médiathèque Nouvelle to close after 70 years

Brussels' Médiathèque Nouvelle will close its doors on 1 January 2027 after 70 years of lending CDs, DVDs and video games and hosting community events as part of its cultural programme.

The Auderghem institution was funded by the French-speaking community, which decided not to renew the contract during its latest budget conclave.

“After an analysis of objectives and available resources, the government found that the institutions' missions overlap with those of other players in the French community,” said Wallonia-Brussels Federation minister-president Élisabeth Degryse (Les Engagés).

The institution started out under the name Discothèque Nationale de Belgique before changing its name to La Médiathèque, then PointCulture and finally Médiathèque Nouvelle.

Throughout its 70-year existence, the institution amassed a large collection of more than 300,000 media, including records, vinyl and films.

Médiathèque Nouvelle was very popular until the early 2000s, but over the years lost out to digital music and video platforms, with fewer people coming to borrow material. More than one restructuring and readjustment took place in recent years.

“Our mission has made the Médiathèque Nouvelle a pillar of public cultural service, ensuring self-development and the link between 'creation, knowledge and citizenship' for many years,” said general director Edith Bertholet.

Médiathèque Nouvelle currently has 55 employees - with an average length of service of 20 years - at its headquarters in Auderghem and in certain libraries in Wallonia, many of whom are expected to lose their jobs as a result of the closure.

The management of the Médiathèque Nouvelle said they were shocked to learn of the decision, which they said was taken “without prior consultation, without having been able to discuss the projects and various proposals relating to the new programme contract and the future of the association”.

The financial support provided by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation corresponded to the bulk of the Médiathèque Nouvelle's budget, the association said.

“There is no other solution for the not-for-profit association's authorities than to consider liquidation and the intention of collective redundancy, while hoping that some of the staff will be redeployed and that the Wallonia-Brussels Federation will assume the social liabilities,” said Jean-Jacques Deleeuw, chairman of the not-for-profit association's administrative body.

“Our future is going to be to try and re-hire as many people as possible, for example in libraries or other sectors,” Bertholet said, adding that the organisation would strive to avoid a bankruptcy scenario in which people could miss out on "a proper redundancy package".

Founded in 1956, creator Jean Salkin launched the Discothèque Nationale with the goal that everyone should have access to music.

Direct access to its collection of media is available from the offices in Auderghem, where all the collections of the Médiathèque Nouvelle are stored, and also through connections with the public libraries of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.