The collection of typographic posters dating from the 1850s to 1900 is unique. Because they are extremely fragile, the posters can only be consulted after restoration. Nevertheless, 12,000 political posters have been microfilmed to date and are available for consultation.

Geneva was also the cradle of the art poster in Switzerland starting in 1896. The first color posters from those earlier years, for example, have been conserved, as well as a selection of the grand masters of Swiss poster production, with an emphasis on the French-speaking areas of the country.

In its way, the poster collection documents life in Geneva throughout the 20th century, focusing on politics, advertising, culture, social life, and tourism. The collection notably features posters from the “Temps des passions” and the political struggles of the 1930s. The Bibliothèque also conserves a number of comic book posters, a Genevan specialty, like those drawn by Exem, as well as a very rare collection of protest posters from the years 1968-1975 put together by the group Halosis.

The collection comprises both silkscreen art posters that are signed and occasionally numbered, and anonymous posters with no pretensions to artistic quality whose only function was to announce an event.

The Bibliothèque is also proud to have an important historical collection of posters which the Société générale d’affichage (SGA) has entrusted to the library. Some 8,000 high-quality posters illustrate the years 1890 to 1960 and form an ideal complement to the Bibliothèque’s own collections, including the years when the legal deposit was no longer in force.