LIBRARY

An alphabetical listing of all our resources available for borrowing by members is available to download in .pdf format here (updated 16/10/2022)

The AF library cupboard has been relocated to the Tura Merrang library at Tura Beach. If it your first time, ask the library staff where the Alliance Francaise cupboard is located and the code to open the combination padlock.  There is quite a variety of resource material for you to borrow: novels, art books, videos, DVDs. Make a point of using the resources and increase your knowledge of les choses françaises.

To access the materials stored in a locked cupboard you will need to:
1. Unlock the combination padlock and chain on the cupboard handles (if you have forgotten the code, ask the librarian)
2. Choose your item(s) for borrowing (there is a complete list in a red folder)
3. Complete the borrowing details in the book provided
4. Close the doors and replace the chain through the handles and close the padlock 
5. Rotate the combination tumblers so that opening code IS NOT showing.  


Borrowing guidelines:
• Please respect the 2-week time limit for borrowing.
• If you are going on holidays, ensure that items are returned prior to your departure.
• Take special care of the surface of the CDs and DVDs.

Some reviews of items from our library:

New addition to the Library
In 2022 Carole Thomas donated several books, Brigitte and Simon donated some fashion magazines and Clive Roberts donated a series of the original TV program "Maigret" on DVD.

Regine and Wolgang Kasper kindly donated to the library a new DVD: “Nannerl, la soeur de Mozart, (“Mozart's Sister”). It is in French with English sub-titles. Regine commented that “it is an engaging story, well told. While fictional it aims to be historic, with some romance on the side and lovely music, of course. It is very beautifully filmed with excellent costumes, cramped coaches, sick children, sad princesses in a monastery, an enamoured dauphin.” The Director is Rene Féret.

The main character is portrayed by the very talented Marie Féret, one of the director's daughters.  For more information see:


Plein Air – Les Impressionistes Dans Le Paysage by Stéphanie Grégoire 
‘Plein air: Manet, Monet, Sisley, Cézanne, Van Gogh....’ Dans la première partie le livre montre comment le choix de ces motifs nouveaux – guingettes, jardins, champs de courses, bords de rivière – influence les choix techniques pour le cadrage, la couleur ou la composition. 
La seconde partie, ' l'invitation au voyage', est un parcours à travers les lieux qui s'identifient aujourd'hui avec l'histoire du mouvement.  Une très abondante iconographie (236 reproductions en couleur, hors des sentiers battus) aide à cette rédécouverte d'un grand sujet.                by Carmen Coutts-Smith 

The Guide to Lodging in France's Monasteries (Book Review)
This guide by Eileen Barish is one of several she has written to assist travellers to France, Italy and Spain. Her entries include accommodation in historic buildings in unforgettable settings.  Details of websites and email addresses allow you to book ahead and take advantage of inexpensive accommodation in cities, towns and and villages. 
Many of the places include meals for around 30E per person per day.  If you haven't yet discovered the website for the Book Depository in the UK, take a look, as there are 22 million titles available and shipping is free around the world.  bookdepository.com  I have ordered this Guide and am eagerly awaiting its arrival.          by Carmen Coutts-Smith

The Allure of  Perfumes
Do you know of a particular scent which stirs up memories of a person or a particular place?  As is mentioned in SAVOIR FAIRE, Great Traditions of French Elegance, a tiny drop of perfume can recall the story of a lifetime.”
Most of us are enticed by Nina Ricci's L'Air du Temps, Je Reviens by Worth, No 5 by Chanel, or Cacharel's Anais Anais etc...but do we associate them with ambergris, musk, herbs, the gummy resin called 'tears'  or 'concrete'?
Coco Chanel once said “A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future.” Well, how is your future looking?  Packaging perfume is an art in itself with the design of the bottle crucial to the success of the contents.  Who hasn't perused the shelves in department stores and commented on the beautiful bottles, the colour of the contents and lightly sprayed the test strip ?
Main ingredients of perfume are natural essences obtained from flowers such as roses, jasmine and tuberose as well as herbs. Tons of flower petals are used together with solvents to create 'concrete'.  It takes 350 lbs of jasmine petals to obtain one lb of 'concrete'.  Also, it takes one ton of lemons to produce 5 lbs of essential oil for use further in the perfume process.
If you wish to read about the process by which beautiful fragrances are made, then read more in the book Savoir faire to be found in out Alliance Française library.              
Carmen Coutts-Smith