NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2014

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I hope you are all safely back from your holidays and ready to come to the library to have a look at the new books which arrived at the end of September.

There is quite a lot of news, the grant money from the City Hall arrived.

Foal had a successful day at the Foire aux Associations with nearly 50 people signing up to ask for information. Many thanks to those who staffed the stand, it is a tiring business.

We have decided to harmonise the dues over the coming year so that by 2016 everyone will be paying at the beginning of January.

The biggest piece of news, however, is that we shall be leaving our present location some time in January. Currently, we have a fallback solution and one or two leads. It would be good if all members could ask around. We need between 30-40 square metres and we do not have the funds to pay rent. I suggest you put up signs in likely places. (One of the leads we have is thanks to just such a sign which I am sending as an attachment). Although we have had a grant application at City Hall for over two years, nothing has come of it yet, at the moment, they are doing an audit  of all premises for associations and there is no date for the next meeting of the Commission.

 UPCOMING EVENTS

 ·         28 November: Literary Conference open to the public, organised by the AWGLR and Bookshop

Janet Tessier du Cros, a scotswoman who lived in the South of France, has published her memoirs about World War II in the mid 1950s. Since the south wasn’t strictly speaking occupied territory and there have not been written as many books about this regions during WW2, this book gives us a unique perspective on the difficult time she and her children traversed. Her son, Mr. Tessier du Cros will be coming to speak about the book, his mother and the war, we will then have somebody read some fragments and hopefully have some demonstration of Scottish dancing too. Wine and beverages will be served, as well as sundry items. 

Espace Martin Luther King  27 Bd Louis Blanc Time: 5-9pm 

·         Tuesday 9th or Wednesday 10th December at the Theatre Jean-Claude Carrière at 8pm

I am hoping to get a few seats for this event at the Domaine d’O. Will keep you informed, but they are fully booked and my contact there is doing his best

 SMASHED By Gandini Juggling

What class, what elegance ! Wearing dark suits and sober little dresses, these 9 jugglers/actors/dancers pay tribute to Pina Bausch and her legendary Tanztheater.

With extraordinary precise juggling and exceptional dancing, the troupe produces sepia images, vague souvenirs of 1940s London, all slightly offbeat thanks to their devastating humour. You will be amazed by the fabulous energy of these out of the ordinary Brits.

·         12th December : Foal’s Christmas party, held at the Claringbulls to whom many thanks for allowing us to hold the party there. Foal will be providing the drinks,  members are asked to bring along finger food. We are organising a RAFFLE again with lots of wonderful prizes. The raffle is a way for us to raise money and tickets will be on sale at the library from the 22nd October and on the day of the party. (1€ each, 10 for 8 €)

·         23rd January : Our famous literary quiz we are waiting to have the room at Martin Luther King confirmed, you will be informed in good time.



The new catalogue (Author Alphabetical Order) is now online. To download it, just click Here.
Also available : Alpha Order by Title Here.
Scroll down to middle of page to a small red PDF file and click on "télécharger le fichier"... hey presto !

Summer Newsletter 2014

SUMMER NEWSLETTER 2014                            

                              

·         FOAL held its AGM on June 12th with a rather disappointing turnout but better than some.

·         Vicki gave an overview of the past year ; the Christmas party and Raffle were very successful, as was the annual Book Quiz. The search for premises is ongoing (City Hall has had our dossier for two years now and they receive regular reminders about our situation). We will be addressing the question of a move from the Claringbull’s in the autumn. We will never be able to thank them enough for their generosity and patience. In this week’s Gazette, there is a snippet about premises for associations, some of which, apparently, are put to uses for which they are not intended (gaming, drugs and even brothels !!). The new Mayor is going to look into this and put things in order. Logically, this should free up some premises. In my next reminder, I shall assure them that we have no intention of setting up anything but a library !

·         The Foal website has changed its name to foal34.free.fr as we had to change hosts.

·         We did quite a lot of advertising in the autumn but until we have permanent premises we are in a chicken and egg situation. We cannot augment the collection (apart from new books) due to lack of space or increase our opening hours or advertise Book Sales so it’s rather difficult to seek too many new members.

·         FOAL received a grant from City Hall again this year (500 euros) we will be ordering new books soon for « la rentrée ».

·         We collected the 10 best books of the first decade, thanks to the efforts of Philippe Marchand and Art Fell.

·         Philip Claringbull’s Treasurer’s Report shows that our financial situation is healthy, we have quite a lot of money in the bank which we are husbanding so that we will be able to afford shelves and other expenses when we move to permanent premises.

·         A Fundraising Committee was set up in the spring. They hope to raise significant funds. These would be used for premises and the Physical Library as a priority but the idea of a Digital Library was mooted which could either become an addition to the Physical Library or set up as a sister association.

·         FOAL will be present at the Foire aux Associations this year on the 14th September, our stand will be on the Place du Nombre d’Or, you might like to drop in to support the team who will be there plugging our library.

·         Christmas Party : to be held on Friday 12 December at the Claringbull’s. Given the success of the party last year, we might be obliged to restrict numbers. We will hold a Raffle again which enabled us to raise a goodly sum last year and is a fun way to support the library, (tickets on sale in the library from November and on the day itself). If anyone would like to contribute a prize, send an email to foal@dbmail.com

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER, if attendence at the library last week is anything to go by, you will have lots of good reading to be getting on with. One more opening before the summer break on Wednesday 30th July

New books May/June 2014

 BOOK ORDER MAY/JUNE 2014

There was no single book which really gripped us this time and which made us say « we really must buy this ». However, I hope you will find this an interesting selection which will enable you to enjoy your summer reading. The books should be in the library by the end of May or early June.

NON FICTION

A Tale in Two Cities                          Brian Unwin

Trials of Passion                                 Lisa Appignanesi

Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England                Roy & Lesley Adkins    PB

The Broken Road                              Patrick Leigh Fermor

 FICTION

Lost for Words                                  Edward St Aubyn

The Strangler Vine                             MJ Carter

The Last Word                                   Hanif Kureishi

Mrs Hemingway                                Naomi Wood

Three Brothers                                   Peter Ackroyd

Still Life with Breadcrumbs              Anna Quindlen

The Cold Sond                                  Linn  Ullmann

The Lie                                               Helen Dunmore  PB

Lost for Words                                  Edward St Aubyn

The Stories                                         Jane Gardam

If you would like to read the relevant book reviews, send an email to foal@dbmail.com

NEWSLETTER April 2014

NEWSLETTER APRIL 2014

·        Some sad news to begin with. We have been obliged to cancel our World War 1 event for various reasons, one being that the Salle des Rencontres at City Hall was not suitable for our purposes. I was hoping the event would really put us on the map as far as City Hall is concerned. With the cancellation and the change of Mayor and his team, I shall have to start over again on the front of applying for premises but I shall pursue tenaciously as is my wont.

·        New address website : our provider no longer hosting us for free, we have changed the address of the website which is now : foal34.free.fr

·        Readership Survey : a survey of regular readers has shown that they are satisfied with frequency and choice of books. We shall be ordering new books soon, to be in the library before the summer break.

·        Art Fell has successfully completed his compilation of the 10 Best Novels of the 1st decade of the 20th century. His write-up will be sent to you by separate mail. Many thanks to Art and Phil Marchand for leading the project.

·        Foire aux Associations : we will have a FOAL stand this year. The Foire aux Associations will be on Sunday 14th September and we will be sending out a call for volunteers to man the stand nearer the time.

·        We wanted to change venues for a picnic in June but found nothing suitable. However, one Domaine we were able to contact suggested the following meal on Sunday 25th of May at the Domaine de Saumarez. Kick off is at noon with an aperitif, then there is a meal which consists of brasucade de moules, mechouis d'agneau, camambert à la braise, mignardise et café. Wines are available at cellar door prices . 25 euros for the meal. You can visit the site for details of how to get there, 10 kilometres from Montpellier.

·        Annual General Meeting : to be held on 12th June at 6pm at Martin Luther King. As usual, Foal will be providing drinks and nibbles afterwards. We do hope lots of members will attend. It is a nice way to get together mid year.

Website foal34.free.fr

e-mail  foal@dbmail.com

 

Book Quiz photo

We didn't get a general view of the Book Quiz but we did get a lovely photo of our two prettiest members who are happy to have it posted here

NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014

NEWSLETTER MARCH 2014

Great fun was had by all last Friday 28th February at the Book Quiz, due to the excellent work and organisation of Philippe Marchand and Katharine and Philip Claringbull and the very enthusiastic audience who had much enjoyment answering the questions. Roll on next year !

Upcoming events

First on the agenda a special Book Sale on 12th March, the closest opening day to the 6 March World Book Day. So on the 12th  if you buy two books, you get another one free. As you know, any money raised goes straight into the book  budget.

The next event which should  be of interest to many Foal members are the semi-finals and finals of the schools debating societies (in English, of course) which take place on April 11th at the CRDP (Allée de la Citadelle, near the Lycée Joffre) starting at 1.30pm.

Now for our big event : the WW1 Commemoration to be held on 23rd May at 6.30pm at the Salle des Rencontres in the new Town Hall. Your president has been able to negotiate this venue and also what is called « un verre de l’amitié » (in other words drinks and nibbles) provided by the Town Hall itself. We are hoping for a big turnout, well beyond just Foal and supporters.

We are currently working on content but just to give you an idea the event will take the form of readings, poems, songs and photos to commemorate the Great War.

I am hoping that holding the event at the Town Hall and the interest that has been shown by various councillors as well as the mayor will really put our association on the map and in a strong position for permanent premises. At any rate, that has been my guiding principle in the efforts I have made to organise this.

Although official Spring is not quite here yet, I am sure we all have Spring in our hearts and I know we all have a spring in our step !