NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2016

No, the newsletter is not becoming a monthly publication but there is a lot of news so I thought I’d write again this month

 Grand Opening

Was a great success, you will have seen the articles in the press & the photos on the blog & Facebook. Unfortunately, the Midi Libre journalist has a rather scant knowledge of English & wrote that we were a book shop (librarie) rather than a library. I contacted ML as soon as I saw the article & they corrected the error in an issue later in the week. On the strength of the ML article, I was contacted by a journalist from Divergences FM who came to interview me about the library. The interview was aired two days later at 8am, I doubt any of you heard it but it was another publicity plug for Foal.

We had lots of visitors including Mr Castre from City Hall who was delighted with the way we had set up the library. By chance  there was a young child sitting on the floor in the cosy, children’s room which is just the kind of thing CH is looking for when they allocate premises, they like to know that their premises are being used  to good effect. We had 13 new sign ups which brings us up to nearly 60 members now. I would like to thank all of the long-term members who have supported us through thick & thin over the years & of course, the Claringbulls & Glynis without whom we would have had to close.

Christmas Raffle

Lots of super prizes again this year.  The Board goes to great lengths to get the prizes & I hope you will all buy tickets for yourselves & friends in support of the library.  (ticket 1 euro  10 tickets for 8 euros)

LIST OF PRIZES TO DATE   

·        Radio designed by Philippe Stark for Alessi, almost a museum piece, exhibited at MOMA

·        Voucher for an evening meal for two at the Casino Brasserie at the Grande Motte 

·        A manucure in a swish beauty parlour

·        Voucher for 50 euros at the restaurant Le Grillardin

·        Simili jet glass bead necklace from the Musée d’Orsay

·        A professional vegetable slicer

·        An ice cream door jam

·        A hand-decorated plate

·        Voucher for a « gouter » at Deli’s café

·        Bamboo pen & propelling pencil set

·        3 bottles of wine Domaine de Causse

·        Voucher from B’Cosse for « something nice »

·        Modern serving plate

·        Market list notepad                 MORE TO COME

 

Opening days over the Christmas holiday

In December we shall be open on Saturday 3rd & Saturday 17th & Wednesdays 7th & 14th. Back to normal schedule from the Wednesday 4th January opening  onwards (1st & 3rd Saturday & every Wednesday)

QUIZ

Foal’s famous literary quiz will be held at Martin Luther Quiz on 27th January. I don’t have an exact time yet for the opening of the doors. Quite early so that you have time for a drink to build you up before we start.

Conversation sessions

We would like to offer twice-monthly conversation sessions to anyone who might be interested. We already have 4 sign ups but we need a few more before we can set this up. Send an email to foal34@gmail.com

St Valentine’s Day  10 ukuleles

I have taken an option for the St Valentin’s Day evening at the Domain d’O. We had a great evening two years ago & this time there will be 10 musiciens with 10 ukuleles in a cabaret atmosphere as in 2015. We were astounded last time when we saw what they had done with the space  & I reckon this is not to be missed. The evening starts at 8pm & goes on for an hour & a half & should  be terrific fun. Sign ups before end of December to foal34@gmail.com  Special price 12 euros

Voces 8

I haven’t had many sign ups yet for this. It is still a long way off but I have an end of January deadline. An English group of singers called VOCES 8 some of whom are former pupils of Westminster Abbey will be singing all sorts of music  from classical to jazz to American crooners, a capella at the Domaine d’O on 28th March.  This will be a brilliant concert

Email to  foal@dbmail.com  Special price 12 euros

 Book Sale

The book sale is a permanent fixture. If you have any recent books in good condition, send a list to foal34@gmail.com , some can be added to the collection & some can go into the book sale. We made quite a lot of money with the Book Sale on Grand Opening day, it is a good way to raise funds for new purchases. We also sell CDs, I have mentioned this before, try & go through your CD collection & see if there          are any titles you don’t  listen to any more & bring them along to the library. Every little counts !

 Teddy Bears

It would be a nice idea to have a few cuddly toys on the shelves above the children’s book, there are already a couple. If you have one to donate (not too chewed up!) do bring it along. If you are fond of teddy bears, the Heathrow Christmas ad (you can see it on You Tube) is absolutely sweet & considered the best of the Christmas ads for the moment

 

Loads of new titles added to the collection in November 2016

LOADS OF BOOKS HAVE JUST COME IN
We have added a load of new books to the collection from various donations which will cater to all tastes! Travel & other excellent non-fiction, lots of novels & crime. If you are thinking of donating books, we have to be a bit strict. We ask for a list with author, title, publication date & condition. The Book Acquisitions Committee then decides which books to keep. From past experience & in the days when we were a fledgling library, we accepted donations sight unseen only ot discover that we had been had because people were offloading their chestnuts (ancient, well-thumbed, read in the bath kind of thing!) so we are more wary now.
You can also donate CDs which have been selling at a good pace in the permanent sale.
If you would like the list of the new titles send an e-mail to foal34@gmail.com

NEWS OF THE GRAND OPENING & PHOTOS

We had a very successful day yesterday, a lot of people came, we had a good number of new signups & we sold a lot of books and Raffle tickets (the prizes are coming in and they are really good as usual). Mr Castre from City Hall came along & he was impressed by our installation & thinks we will be a really useful addition to the area & Montpellier in general. A journalist  from Midi Libre & his photographer came to cover the event, the article will come out tomorrow (7th November)

So we are up & running & will be open every Wednesday from 3-6pm & the first & third Saturday each month. The new books are in and although there is still quite a lot of shelf space to fill, we shall do so slowly but surely with good literature. The Book Sale will be permanent, we do accept donations but only from a list, otherwise we would be overwhelmed with books.
The special offer for joining up still holds, free membership until the end of the year for new signups.

1 General view of the Library  2. A good crowd  3 Drinking the fizzy    4  Signing up   5 The cosy area & children's books   6 Vicki in front of the premises 23 rue Lakanal

SPECIAL OFFER

There will be a Special Offer on the Grand Opening Day (5th November)  Free membership for November & December when you sign up

GRAND OPENING

The Mairie is finishing the renovation (which will have taken a long time, since June!) and we can finally set a date for the GRAND OPENING.

Saturday 5th November

10-12.30 & 2-6pm

 

We shall be holding a Book Sale on that day & soft drinks & biscuits will be on offer. We are hoping to get a lot of new sign ups with a special deal: free membership for November & December 2016

The first "normal" opening will be on Wednesday 9th November 3-6pm so please wait to bring your books back

 

New opening hours

 

Every Wednesday 3-6pm

First & third Saturday 10-12.30

FOAL BOOK ORDER OCTOBER 2016

 

NON FICTION

The Pigeon Tunnel                                                    John Le Carre  (Autobiography)

Les Parisiennes : How the women of Paris

lived, loved and died in the 1940s                            Ann Sebba  (Historical)

Van Gogh’s ear : The true story                                Bernadette Murphy

Peacock & Vine                                                        A.S.Byatt  (Art biography)

SAS : Rogue Heroes                                                 Ben Macintyre  (Wartime adventure)

FICTION

Nutshell                                                                     Ian McEwan   (Historical fiction)

A Banquet of Consequences                                     Elisabeth George   (Detective novel)

The Gustav Sonata                                                    Rose Tremain  (Historical fiction)

Hot Milk                                                                    Deborah Levy   (Contempory fiction)

Conclave                                                                   Robert Harris   (Thriller)

His bloody Project                                                    Graeme Macrae Burnet   (Crime, shortlist

                                                                                  Booker 2016)

I see you                                                                    Clare Mackintosh  (Psychological thriller)

When the Music’s over                                             Peter Robinson  (Thriller)

Commonwealth                                                         Ann Patchett  (Family saga)

The Senility of Vladimir P                                        Michael Honig  (Fictional biography)

Breaking Cover                                                         Stella Remington   (Spy fiction)

Snow Garden                                                            Rachel Joyce  (Short  stories)

 

 

NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2016

Lots of news this time.  Foal will be moving into a new phase of its life with the move to 23 rue Lakanal (planned for mid October, followed by a Grand Opening and Book Sale). The premises is being thoroughly renovated by City Hall, we are currently waiting for the flooring to be laid and the new plumbing put in. Then we shall be able to organise the move, re-shelving and general organising of the new place. (volunteers  welcome)  Of course, you will be informed of the date of the Grand Opening. One of our members, Murielle, who teaches in a college, has found us tables and chairs which the college was getting rid of. This will be a big saving. Thank you Murielle.

Antigone des Associations

Dedicated volunteers staffed our stand and we garnered a lot of email addresses of interested people to whom info will be sent.

Staffing the library

Opening hours will be enlarged in the new premises and volunteers from membership are welcome (email to foal@dbmail.com    ) We plan to open every Wednesday from 3pm to 6pm and the 1st and 3rd Saturday each month from 10am to 12.30. Board members will staff through until end of January and I plan to hold a meeting in January with volunteers and board members to sketch out staffing until the summer break.

New books

A new order has been placed and the books will be in the library for the G.O. We shall open a Children’s Section with books provided through donations, so if you have any interesting children’s books in good condition, you can bring them along.

Raffle

There will be a raffle at the party and prizes are starting to come in. If you have anything in your attic which would make a good prize, don’t hesitate to donate. Please try and buy plenty of tickets, you can buy for friends who want to support the library. Even if they don’t belong to Foal they might want to support you.

Concert at Domaine d’O

An English group of singers called VOCES 8 (from classical to jazz to American crooners, a capella) will be coming to the Domaine d’O on 28th March. I have taken an option for Foal for 15 tickets. I will remind you nearer the time but if you are interested, do send me an email  foal@dbmail.com  so that I can get an idea about numbers. Special price 12 euros

Grand Opening & Super Book Sale

According to the latest information, the renovation should be finished by the third week in October which would enable us to move and set up in week 25th -29th. Then we would have a normal opening on Wednesday 2nd November and the Grand Opening on Saturday 5th November. This is the best case scenario, the worst case is move on 31st October and GO on 12th November with a normal opening on 9th November (we would rather not have people bringing back books on day of GO so that we can concentrate on the Book Sale and signing up new members). You will be kept informed. Refreshments and biscuits will be on offer