Events - 18 Nov 23

We are thrilled to announce the launch of Anglofams – an international community designed to connect English-speaking families with kids of all ages in the area.

We are a diverse group of families who understand the unique experiences of raising bilingual children.  Parents can share stories and resources, seek advice, and provide a casual, social environment for their children to be exposed to English outside of the home.

For our first-ever event, we’ll be hosting a children’s book exchange at the library.

Bring your children and a gently used book (in English) from your personal collection to exchange with another family.

Light refreshments and snacks will be available, as well as activities and games to keep kids entertained.

This event is free and open to all library members.

To sign up, please e-mail the group leaders here. We kindly ask that you RSVP by November 16th.

The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people. For this meeting, the group will read “Skios” by Michael Frayn.

On the sunlit Greek island of Skios, the Fred Toppler Foundation’s annual lecture is to be given by Dr Norman Wilfred, the world-famous authority on the scientific organisation of science. He turns out to be surprisingly young and charming — not at all the intimidating figure they had been expecting. The Foundation’s guests are soon eating out of his hand. So, even sooner, is Nikki, the attractive and efficient organiser.

Meanwhile, in a remote villa at the other end of the island, Nikki’s old school-friend Georgie waits for the notorious chancer she has rashly agreed to go on holiday with, and who has only too characteristically failed to turn up. Trapped in the villa with her, by an unfortunate chain of misadventure, is a balding old gent called Dr Norman Wilfred, who has lost his whereabouts, his luggage, his temper and increasingly all normal sense of reality — everything he possesses apart from the flyblown text of a well-travelled lecture on the scientific organisation of science…

Meetings are once a month on Saturday afternoons starting at 3 pm. Open to all library members. To sign up please contact the group coordinator at bookgroup@ellia.org.

The film club presents a film in English once a month on a Saturday afternoon.

This showing will be of Mansfield Park, a 1999 British romantic comedy-drama film based on Jane Austen’s 1814 novel of the same name, written and directed by Patricia Rozema.

Fanny (Frances O’Connor), born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle Sir Thomas (Harold Pinter), his wife (Lindsay Duncan) and their four children, where she’ll be brought up for a proper introduction to society. She is treated unfavorably by her relatives, except for her cousin Edmund (Jonny Lee Miller), whom she grows fond of. However, Fanny’s life is thrown into disarray with the arrival of worldly Mary Crawford (Embeth Davidtz) and her brother Henry (Alessandro Nivola).

Watch the trailer here.

Screening begins at 3 o’clock sharp and will be followed by a discussion in English. This activity is free and open to all library members.