Archives: Events

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 sorry to inform you that this activity has been cancelled until further notice.

Welcome to “Write Here, Write Now!”, a new activity!

Writing and sharing: join this series of workshops for people who love to write in English and don’t mind sharing what they’ve written (although this sharing is not mandatory). Springboard exercises by themes, genres, characters, time, space, imagination, real facts, even extending to other art forms will help you get your creative juices flowing…all in the company of lovers of literature. Mathieu Huvelin, a library volunteer, will delicately guide you through different ways to stimulate your writing, keep you inspired and help you get to know the writer within yourself.

“You can make anything by writing” (C.S. Lewis). Following Lewis’s invitation, let’s explore boundlessness: the world at large as well as your own secret gardens through words…while discovering the unknown realms of the writing of others.

Workshops will be run Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 pm at the library from mid-September to mid-June on a bi-monthly basis, except during school holidays. They are free for library members (maximum of 10 participants). For more information and/or to sign up, please contact the group leader.

The Saturday Reading Group is for anyone who loves to read, socialize in English, and meet new people.

The September read for the group is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s world is both opened up, and closed down. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

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 garden club invites you to discover the beautiful gardens in the area!

The September visit, the Jardin des Langottières, will start at 3:00 pm. The garden has four different areas separated by arbors, hedges of yews or boxwood. There are many rose trees and citrus trees. For more information on the garden, please click here.

This activity is open to library members and offers visits once a month to a garden between April and October. For more information and/or to sign up for this visit, please send an email to Sylvie Leys  at elliagardenclub@gmail.com.

Do you love French food and restaurants? Would you like to speak English more, but in a relaxed environment? Join the Luncheon Club! Enjoy a meal and great conversation in English once a month at a local restaurant. This activity is open to library members. Spaces are limited. For more information or to sign up, please contact the group coordinator here.

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.

If you would like to do textile arts while speaking in English, this activity is for you! Participants create textile pieces of their choice using any technique that suits them: embroidery, patchwork, quilting, weaving, collages. It is also a great opportunity for each person to learn new techniques.

The group’s 2021 collective project, a delicate creation of 25 squares, is complete and is being showcased at the library until June 21st!

Covid protocol require that you bring your own materials. Open to library members. If you would like to join the group who meets once a month, if possible, please sign up at the front desk.

The garden club invites you to discover the beautiful gardens in the area!

The July visit, two public gardens and a private park in Sainte Gemmes-sur-Loire, will start at 3:00 pm. The entrance fee to the private park, La Chênerie, is €5.

Les jardins du presbytère, around the church, were created in 1995. Five different terraces offer a gorgeous view of the Loire. One is a French-style garden, then there is the blue garden, the yellow garden, the green garden and the vegetable garden.

Le jardin méditerranéen is a provençal garden, enclosed between an old stone wall and the river Loire, with many mediterranean varieties such as lavender, agapanthus, rosemary bushes, pine trees and cypresses.

La chêneraie is a private park along the river Loire with a very old oak tree which has recently been granted the ‘’remarkable tree’’ award.

This activity is open to library members and offers visits once a month to a garden between April and October. For more information and/or to sign up for this visit, please send an email to Sylvie Leys  at elliagardenclub@gmail.com.

“Sea, Sun and Fun” is a 3-day English-learning workshop for collégiens. Participants learn English in a fun, interactive way with games, songs and activities with lots of talking and moving around! The workshop will be at the library for three consecutive afternoons of three hours each, from 2 to 5 pm.

Please contact the front desk to sign up by phone: 02 41 24 97 07 or email: info@ellia.org. Limited to 15 participants so sign-up fast! Cost is 75 euros (includes snack, materials and library membership).