The French fervidly guard their culture against any possible cultural transgressions by the Anglo-Saxon juggernaut. Four year’s ago, the French resolved to prevent Google from assuming control of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF), their national library. But they have finally ended their four-year resistance.

France’s national library has reached an agreement with Google over the digitization of its massive book collection that contains about 13 million books and publications. Google’s financial muscle is expected to quicken the digitization process. Denis Bruckmann, director of collections at BNF, has blamed financial considerations for the library’s capitulation. However, the library does not intend to halt its own digitization efforts.

Image Credit: Britannica