Hélène Rivier (May 25, 1902 – February 11, 1986) was a Swiss librarian.
The daughter of Emile Théodore Rivier, a minister, and Annie Rose, she was born in
Porrentruy
Porrentruy (; ; ) is a Swiss municipality and seat of the district of the same name located in the canton of Jura.
Porrentruy is home to National League team, HC Ajoie.
History
The first trace of human presence in Porrentruy is a Mesolit ...
and attended the Ecole de bibliothécaires in
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, graduating in 1928.
In 1931, she established the Bibliothèque Moderne at Geneva, the first free lending library available to the public in Switzerland. She was the first director of the Bibliothèque Municipale in Geneva, serving from 1941 to 1966. She also established library service for the sick in the
canton hospital and the Saint-Antoine prison, set up a system of local library branches and established the first Swiss
bookmobile
A bookmobile, or mobile library, is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Boo ...
in 1962.
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivier, Helene
1902 births
1986 deaths
Swiss librarians
People from Porrentruy
Swiss women company founders
20th-century Swiss women
Swiss women librarians