Archives: Events

The local band “Swing Colporteurs” invites you to come and enjoy some music at the library, with songs by Billy Holliday, Nougaro and Louis Amstrong. Your donations are welcome, all proceeds will be given to the Red Cross and earmarked to help the Ukrainian people. Open to the public.

The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people. This Saturday, the group will read The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris.

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners. Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive. One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her. A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov’s experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.

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.

Come along and bring your knitting,

Have a natter while you’re sitting,

Or learn to knit with wool provided,

Needles loaned and stitches guided.

Knitted garments are très chic,

So be in vogue and start this week.

Knit and Natter is a free activity, open to all library members. No need to reserve, just come and enjoy! If anyone has some extra yarn please bring it in.

The library is an authorised test center for the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test (the Test of English for International Communication). For more information please visit our TOEIC page or to sign up go to the official ETS website.

The library is back to serving coffee (and tea!) during Coffee House, isn’t that great? Join the library community for a special moment to talk about anything and everything (in English of course!). Just come in and chat with others, have a cuppa and enjoy the company! Coffee House is free and open to all library members. No need to reserve!

It’s that time of year again! Time for the library’s Annual Meeting which starts at 7:45pm on Thursday, March 31st. All members are cordially invited.

Agenda:

• Approval of the Annual General meeting minutes of March 23rd, 2021,
• Presentation and approval of the Annual Report for 2021 and the Orientation Report for 2022,
• Approval of the 2021 accounts,
• Approval of the 2022 provisional budget,
•     Elections – four seats are open for the library board: 1 seat to represent the general public,one seat to represent the middle schools (collèges), one seat to represent the high schools (lycées) and one seat to represent the unversities.
• Questions

Please remember that only members with a current membership may vote during this meeting. If you would like to check your membership validity or if you are unable to attend and would like give us your  proxy, please contact the front desk.

“Books and Tea” is a monthly meeting for bookworms and tea drinkers (but coffee drinkers are welcome too!). Bring a book you’ve really enjoyed, talk about it and pass it on! No need to sign up, just come and enjoy!

Treat yourself to an afternoon of a collective reading of one of Shakespeare’s plays. This activity consists of watching a BBC production on DVD and then reading relative scenes. This is a great activity for lovers of language and fans of the great wit. Free and open to all library members. For more information or to sign-up, please contact the group coordinator here. The number of participants is limited.

With spring just around the corner it is just the right time to sign up to this new activity. Get on those hiking boots and take some time to revel in the great outdoors! The idea is to organise an easy walk once a month – approximately 10 km, 2 to 3 hours, in the afternoon – in order to discover or re-discover the beautiful hiking paths of the Maine-et-Loire. Come along with good walking shoes, protection against rain, cold or heat according to the season…. a bottle of water and a little “en-cas” to keep you going !

Maximum group is 20 so make sure to sign up!

Want to sign up? Easy as pie!

Sign up by sending your name, email address and phone numbers (perferably cell phone) to this email address. You will be sent full details of the walk in due time.

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