Archives: Events

Join the library community for a special moment to talk about anything and everything…in English of course! For the time being, we are inviting everyone to come and socialize but will not be serving drinks in order to keep everyone safe! This is Coffee House with a “hold the coffee” protocol! Things will get better but meanwhile no coffee or tea!

Coffee House is free and open to all library members. Just drop by, no need to reserve!

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

The visit will start at 3 :00 pm at Jardin de Madeleine, 4 rue du château 49700 Ambillou-Château (which now is named Tuffalun). It is a 35 minute drive from Angers. You can park in front of the house. Wearing a mask is mandatory throughout the visit.

There is no internet site. Mr. and Mrs Cordier are retired farmers. They grow all kinds of vegetables: sweet corn, brassicas, different varieties of beans, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries  etc. In the flower garden, they grow many varieties of rose bushes, clematis, philadelphus and more. They won 3rd prize in the 2004 national vegetable garden contest.  

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.

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

Exceptionally, the session will not be held at the library. Participants will meet in front of the library and leave at 3 pm sharp to walk to “La Cour” (23 rue de la Roë). The number of participants is limited to 6 so sign up is mandatory by Thursday 27 May. To sign up, send an email to the group coordinator at bookgroup@ellia.org.

The May read for the group is Among Schoolchildren by Tracy Kidder. Tracy Kidder–the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Soul of a New Machine and the extraordinary national bestseller House–spent nine months in Mrs. Zajac’s fifth-grade classroom in the depressed “Flats” of Holyoke, Massachusetts. For an entire year he lived among twenty schoolchildren and their indomitable, compassionate teacher–sharings their joys, their catastrophes, and their small but essential triumphs. As a result, he has written a revealing, remarkably poignant account of education in America…and his most memorable, emotionally charged, and important book to date.

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 English-language Library is thrilled to be able to offer their traditional Open House and fundraiser to be held on Saturday, May 29^th from 10-6 non-stop. This is a fun day to come and see the library and discover the many programs available to members. Note that twice a year the library has a big booksale (books donated or weeded from the collection) so come and buy your stock of second-hand books in English…hundreds and hundreds are on sale! This is the total win-win situation, not only do you get books at great prices but you also support the library…two birds with one stone! The cherry on the cake? Well, there will be a bake sale with delicious homemade goodies, a plant sale (mostly seedlings of vegetables but other plants as well) offered by the library’s Garden Club AND…a tombola with baskets of wonderful items to win! Note the date! Hope to see you for this special event…

Feel like you need some air! Believe us, we hear you! Get on those hiking boots and take some time to revel in the great outdoors! The Walk and Talk committee organises an easy walk once a month – (approximately 10 km, 4 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 be sure to sign up!

Open to library members only. Sign up by sending your name, email address and phone number (preferably cell phone) to the group leader by clicking here. You will be sent full details for the upcoming walk.

Join the library community for a special moment to talk about anything and everything…in English of course! For the time being, we are inviting everyone to come and socialize but will not be serving drinks in order to keep everyone safe! This is Coffee House with a “hold the coffee” protocol! Things will get better but meanwhile no coffee or tea!

Coffee House is free and open to all library members. Just drop by, no need to reserve!

If you would like to do textile arts while speaking in English, this activity is for you!

Participants will create textile pieces of their choice using any technique that suits them: embroidery, patchwork, quilting, weaving, collages. It will also be an opportunity for each person to learn new techniques.

Our 2021 project of creating 25 squares is now complete! It is exhibited at the library from May 5 to June 22. It’s the right time to join us now because we are starting to work on a new project!

Covid protocol requires that you bring your own materials. Open to library members. If possible, please sign up at the front desk.

In the month of May, the library will be celebrating along with other institutions and non-profits “Angers fête l’Europe” with a number of different events occuring in Angers including this talk offered by Eve Davis, Wigan’s ambassador to Angers about Angers’ sister city, Wigan.

The image of Wigan, one of Angers twin towns, is often linked to George Orwells celebrated work “The Road to Wigan Pier”, which describes the living conditions of the working class in the north of England during the 1930’s. However since then, much has changed; come and discover the transformation of this town through the exciting story presented by Eve Davis, Wigan’s ambassador in Angers.

This event will be held on Zoom (Zoom link here). If you would prefer to come into the library, we will be projecting this event on a big screen…live! This talk is free and open to the public.

If you would like to do some homework before the event click here to access some pertinent quotes from George Orwell’s “The Road to Wigan Pier”.

For a full listing of “Angers fête l’Europe” events go to this link.

Join the library community for a special moment to talk about anything and everything…in English of course! For the time being, we are inviting everyone to come and socialize but will not be serving drinks in order to keep everyone safe! This is Coffee House with a “hold the coffee” protocol! Things will get better but meanwhile no coffee or tea!

Coffee House is free and open to all library members. Just drop by, no need to reserve!