(Hybrid) Akil Kumarasamy on Radical Compassion
2023-01-11 19:30 - 20:30 (Europe/Paris) | The American Library in Paris
Meet Us by the Roaring Sea, the debut novel from writer Akil Kumarasamy, takes place in a future located ambiguously near the present. Dealing with a loss in the family, the narrator escapes from the monotony of her AI job and her personal grief by translating a mysterious manuscript written in Tamil. Originally seeking a distraction, she uncovers channels of human connection lost in her impersonal, technology-driven world. As she dives into the multiple voices of the text, the boundaries between her own identity and those of its authors begin to thin. Written in vivid, striking prose, Kumarasamy’s novel is rich in detail and endlessly imaginative. Kumarasamy will appear in conversation with Dinaw Mengestu at the Library.
About the speakers:
Akil Kumarasamy is the author of the novel, Meet Us by the Roaring Sea (FSG, 2022), and the linked story collection, Half Gods (FSG, 2018), which was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, was awarded the Bard Fiction Prize and the Story Prize Spotlight Award, and was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Her writing has appeared in Harper’s, The Atlantic, among others. She is an assistant professor in the Rutgers University-Newark MFA program.
Dinaw Mengestu is the author of three novels: The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (2008) How to Read the Air (2010), and All Our Names (2014), all of which were New York Times Notable Books. His fiction and journalism have been published in the New Yorker, Granta, Harper’s, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times. He is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor in the Humanities at Bard College.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Kumarasamy and Mengestu will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Critical Conversations Meeting Three: The Society of the Spectacle
2023-01-12 19:00 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
In La société du spectacle (1967), French philosopher and avant-gardist Guy Debord describes an image-saturated world overtaken by the market economy. He writes, “The Spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation among people, mediated by images. … The more he identifies with the dominant images of need, the less he understands his own life and his own desires.”
What challenges or limitations does a society of spectacle inflict on its members? And, without abandoning all digital interaction, how can individuals and communities invite more direct experience into their lives while keeping the spectacle at bay?
In partnership with Analog Sea, an offline publisher of printed books, we’re delighted to announce the fourth season of Critical Conversations, an expert-led discussion series that allows Library members to ponder the most important issues of our time. This season, we will reflect on how to lead a contemplative, vital, and unmediated life in an ever-faster digital world. We will discuss questions such as: What do we gain from disconnecting, and how can we do it? How can we sharpen our senses and redirect our attention in order to change our thoughts and actions? And most of all, how can we live in contemporary society with nuance and intention?
The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset writes that agitation dazzles, blinds, and compels us to act mechanically, like “frenetic sleepwalkers.” To address the perils of today is, first of all, to name them. Whether distraction, compulsion, and isolation, or noise, bright light, and convenience, during meetings one, two, and three, we will identify and begin to understand the snares of today’s increasingly digital world.
Some details: The 2022–23 series will unfold over nine sessions, from November 2022 to July 2023. Conversations will begin at 19h00 CET and run for ninety minutes, in person, at the Library; technology of all description is happily forbidden. Each participant will receive copies of all four Analog Sea Review volumes published so far. Course reading and discussion will, for the most part, be based on work published in The Analog Sea Review. Jonathan Simons, founding editor of Analog Sea, will begin each meeting with some opening remarks, before guiding a group discussion.
About Critical Conversations: Whether in France or America, debate is central to healthy democracy. Critical Conversations encourages both disagreement and agreement through thinking, talking, reading, and actively participating in community. Since the series’ inception in 2020, we have tackled race in America, the climate crisis, and migration. Across seasons, participants have challenged themselves, their peers, and the world in which we live. Please write to Emilie Biggs at biggs@americanlibraryinparis.org with any questions.
About the Critical Conversations 2022-23 leader:
Jonathan Simons is the founding editor of offline publishing house Analog Sea and its literary journal, The Analog Sea Review. As a poet and essayist, he has written for publications including The London Magazine, PN Review, El País, subTerrain Magazine, and The Analog Sea Review. His work has been covered by, among others, the Guardian, the Times Literary Supplement, the Washington Post and La Vanguardia. He researched Buddhist poetics at Naropa University and McGill University and was formerly a visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Center for Humans and Machines, in Berlin.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.

Winter Wonderland (ages 0–7)
2023-01-14 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join the Children’s and Teens’ Services staff and volunteers for an annual new year and winter celebration full of music, games, crafts, fun, and surprises!
For this winter-themed celebration, put on something sparkly, or dress up as your favorite winter creature! Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Winter Wonderland (ages 7–12)
2023-01-14 14:00 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris

Setting Yourself Up for Success: An Overview of the U.S. College Admissions Process with Richard Montauk (ages 14–Adult)
2023-01-14 17:00 - 18:30 | The American Library in Paris
We’ll explore what it takes to get into a top college (in the U.S. and abroad) and how best to prepare—over time—to do so. This presentation will include how different colleges evaluate applicants (in light of their offerings and missions, as well as the composition of their applicant pools) and how you can maximize your students’ chances by helping them: Acquire strong academic credentials and demonstrate intellectual curiosity
Select and ace the right standardized exams
Shape their non-academic profile
Make the most of summers and vacations
Combat a privileged image
Distinguish themselves in a crowded applicant pool

Although the focus of this presentation is strategic in nature, it will be filled with examples illustrating how to achieve each of the above efficiently and effectively.
(Note: this is targeted to 9th , 10th , and 11th grade students and their parents, not 12th graders.) Substantial time will be available at the end of the presentation for questions.

About Richard Montauk: Richard Montauk is the author of a series of best-selling guides, all published by Prentice Hall, including How to Get Into the Top Colleges and How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs. His most recent books include College Interviews: The Definitive Guide and Getting into Brown: Successful Applicants’ Essays, Resumes, and Interviews. He received a BA in literature from Brown University, an MA in government from Harvard, an MS in finance, and a JD from Stanford Law School. Pursuant to a graduate fellowship, he also studied at the London School of Economics and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London). After graduating from Stanford, Richard worked as a corporate lawyer for Latham & Watkins in Los Angeles, then as a corporate strategy consultant for Bain & Co. in London, before devoting himself full-time to admissions consulting. Since 1991, he has consulted to candidates for the world’s top universities, for both undergraduate and graduate programs. He can be reached through his website: www.richardmontauk.com. Important information:
This event is free for Library members, and 15€ per person for non-members, and advance registration is required. All Library users are expected to familiarize themselves with the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Monuments of Paris Scavenger Hunt (ages 12–18)
2023-01-15 14:00 - 16:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard for a scavenger hunt in the Library and outdoors. We’ll focus on ways to gather accurate information, and discover new facts about the monuments of Paris.

Important information:
This event is free for Library members, and 15€ per person for non-members, and advance registration is required. All Library users are expected to familiarize themselves with the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Jean D'Amérique: A New Voice of Haiti
2023-01-17 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Celebrated author Jean D’Amérique, lauded one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Haitian literature, will be speaking on his debut novel, A Sun to be Sewn. A rhythmic, phantasmagoric journey into a Haitian neighborhood plagued by violence, the work adopts the voice of a child to observe the many tragedies and cruelties of the adult world. At the center of this story, D’Amérique carves out a space for love as a redemptive and remedial force. The result is a poetic, dream-infused account of the harshness of reality and the imaginative work which permits one to survive it. Join D’Amérique, in conversation with his English translator Thierry Kehou, at the Library as they speak on language, form, genre, the Haitian present, and the Haitian future.
About the speakers:
Jean D’Amérique is a poet, playwright, and novelist. He is the director of the festival Transe Poétique and the poetry journal Davertige. He received the Prix de Poésie de la Vocation for his poetry collection Nul chemin dans la peau que saignante étreinte (2017) and the Prix Jean-Jacques Lerrant des Journées de Lyon des Auteurs de Théâtre for his play Cathédrale des cochons (2020). A Sun to be Sewn (2021) was awarded the Prix littéraire Montluc Résistance et Libérté 2022.
Thierry Kehou is a writer and literary translator from French. He is a founder and board member of Lampblack, a magazine and literary organization. His writing and translation have appeared in Departures Magazine, Lampblack, The Huron River Review, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of a Fulbright, a Katherine Bakeless Nason Endowment Scholarship from the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference, and his completed translation of Francis Bebey’s Three Little Shoeshiners was longlisted for the 2020 John Dryden Translation Competition. A Sun to be Sewn is his debut translation.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (D’Amérique will appear in the Reading Room and Kehou will appear on Zoom), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Story Hour: The Skeleton Inside You (ages 3–5)
2023-01-18 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read books all about the human body and how it’s built. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as The Skeleton Inside You by Idan Ben-Barak and Julian Frost.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads and Library Volunteer Mary Wessels. They will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Online) Martin Rees on How Science Can Save Us
2023-01-18 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
In a time of unprecedented climate crisis, as faith in channels of communication erodes and systems of knowledge fracture, the development of a public scientific consciousness has never been more urgent. In new work If Science is to Save Us, Astronomer Royal Martin Rees demonstrates the extreme importance of science in confronting humanity’s most pressing challenges, and the social framework which needs to accompany this. Scientific progress must take social good as its object; simultaneously, the public needs to develop a scientific register which allows them to participate in major scientific decisions. Join him as he discusses the vitality of scientific funding, training, and research in the fight for the future of humankind.
About the speaker:
Martin Rees is the UK’s Astronomer Royal. He is based at Cambridge University where he is a Former Master of Trinity College. He is a former President of the Royal Society, co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risks at Cambridge University (CSER), and has served on many bodies connected with education, space research, arms control and international collaboration in science. In addition to his research publications he has written many general articles and ten books.
Important information: This event is online. Attendees will receive a Zoom link upon registration. Participants will be able to pose questions through the Zoom chat function.
This event requires advance registration.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Toddler Time (ages 1–3)
2023-01-19 11:00 - 11:30 | The American Library in Paris
Stories featured during our Toddler Time programs include short picture books and board books, such as Because of an Acorn by Lola M. Schaefer and Adam Schaefer, illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon, which will be included in this 19 January event.
Our Toddler Time is for children ages 1–3 and their caregivers, and lasts 30 minutes. This session will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads and Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard. Each child must be accompanied by an adult chaperone, and chaperones are required to remain with their children for the duration of the program. Parents and caregivers are expected to sit with their children beside them, or in their laps, and participate in the program. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(ONLINE) Entre Nous: Ellington Plays Shakespeare with Robert G. O’Meally and Courtney Bryan
2023-01-19 19:00 - 20:00 | Reid Hall, 4 Rue de Chevreuse, Paris, Paris, 75006, France
Please note that this event will take place online due to planned metro disturbances.
For the Stratford, Ontario Shakespeare Festival of 1957, the American composers Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn created Such Sweet Thunder, a jazz concert honoring Shakespeare. “Somehow I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today,” said Ellington, “he might be a jazz fan himself. He’d appreciate the combination of team spirit and informality, of academic knowledge and humor, of all the elements that go into a great jazz performance.”
This talk will examine scores and recordings of Duke and Strays’ dark bluesy “harlemizations” of certain Shakespearean scenes and characters. Ellington had said that Lady Mac, for example, “had a little ragtime in her soul.” The talk will also feature contemporary video responses to these richly vibrant materials by the award-winning composer Courtney Bryan.
The Entre Nous series is co-organized by Columbia Global Centers | Paris, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, and the American Library in Paris.
About the speakers:
Robert G. O’Meally is the Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, and the founder and director of Columbia’s Center for Jazz Studies. For his production of a Smithsonian record set called The Jazz Singers, he was nominated for a Grammy Award. O’Meally has co-curated exhibitions for The Smithsonian Institution, Jazz at Lincoln Center and The High Museum of Art (Atlanta). He has held Guggenheim and Cullman Fellowships, and was a recent fellow at Columbia’s new Institute for Ideas and Imagination at the Global Center/Paris.
Courtney Bryan is “a pianist and composer of panoramic interests” (New York Times). Bryan is currently the Albert and Linda Mintz Professor of Music at Newcomb College, Tulane University. Bryan was the 2018 music recipient of the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, a 2019 Bard College Freehand Fellow, and is currently a 2019-20 recipient of the Samuel Barber Rome Prize in Music Composition and a 2020 United States Artists Fellow. She has recently begun a new role as Creative Partner with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO).
Important information: This event will take place in person at Reid Hall | Columbia Global Centers at 4 rue de Chevreuse.
Access to this event requires registration through Columbia Global Centers | Paris. Click on the button below to reserve your place.

Teen Night: Stuck in the Middle (part 2) (ages 12–18)
2023-01-20 19:00 - 21:00 | The American Library in Paris
You’ve made it to Chapter 7, and suddenly you’re lost. The thrill you felt as you churned out those opening pages is gone. Your characters are annoying you, your plot is putting you to sleep, and the only place the story’s going is nowhere—fast. You’re tempted to throw in the towel. If this sounds all too familiar, then this event is for you!
In this two-part workshop hosted by Noah Weisz, we’ll explore the common reasons why writing projects lose steam in the middle, and we’ll experiment with a variety of techniques to breathe new life into a sagging story. Come prepared with your work-in-progress and the challenges you’re facing, and get ready to roll up your sleeves. By the time the workshop’s over, you might just find yourself with a path to the finish line—and the energy and motivation you need to get there!
Find out about part 1 in the series (Friday 9 December) here.
Light refreshments will be provided by the Library.
About Noah Weisz: Noah Weisz is a fiction writer and dedicated educator with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and over nine years’ experience helping students of all ages unleash the stories they have inside. Noah’s own writing for children and young adults has been widely published in literary magazines and has won the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award, the Katherine Paterson Prize for middle-grade fiction, the SCBWI Magazine Merit Award, and the F(r)iction Short Story Contest. He is also a three-time finalist for the Bath Children’s Novel Award. Originally from Washington, DC and a recent arrival in Paris, he currently teaches creative writing workshops and courses at several venues including the International School of Paris and Collège Sévigné. You can find out more about him here.

Important information:
Advance registration is required to attend this event, and each teen must have a signed permission slip on file at the Library in order to participate. Participation in teen events is free for Library members and 15€ per person for non-members. Library visitors are expected to familiarize themselves with the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

"Once a Pawn, a Knight…" Learn to Play Chess with Cate Shainker (ages 6–12)
2023-01-21 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join author and illustrator Cate Shainker for a reading of her book Once a Pawn, a Knight… and then learn how each of the chess pieces move, as well as tips and tricks for playing chess.
Each child (aged 6–12) may participate in the program on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library.
About Cate Shainker: Cate is an author and illustrator who has worked in a variety of industries in a variety of cities. She holds a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University and an MBA from Harvard. She currently lives in Paris, France with her husband and three boys. Once a Pawn, a Knight… is her first picture book. Learn more about Cate here. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Zimbabwe Yesterday and Today with Lucy Mushita and Kidi Bebey
2023-01-24 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Lucy Mushita’s Chinongwa is a riveting and emotional coming-of-age story set in rural 1920s Zimbabwe. A young girl seeking to understand the boundaries between family myth and cultural mythology finds herself cast into a situation of nightmarish proportions. As the violence surrounding her is increasingly wrought upon her, the fantastic intervenes as a way to understand and cope with her reality. Ultimately, the protagonist translates her own life into a mythical register, refusing to succumb to the raw, magicless cruelty of the world. Mushita will be in conversation at the Library with journalist Kidi Bebey about the writing of this work and its enduring relevance throughout the multiple transformations of present-day Zimbabwe.
About the speakers:
Lucy Mushita grew up in a small village in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Six years after the 1980 end of apartheid, she settled in Nancy, France, where she started writing Chinongwa, her first novel. She also taught Business English in multinationals, universities and grandes écoles. Chinongwa was first published in S. Africa in 2008, then translated into French (by Elise Argaud) and published by Actes-Sud in 2012.
Born and raised in Paris, Kidi Bebey is the daughter of the late Cameroonian artist and composer, Francis Bebey. A writer and journalist, her novel, My Kingdom for a Guitar, (translated from French by Karen Lindo and published by Indiana University Press in 2021) is inspired by her family history. Currently, Kidi writes online weekly chronicles on African literature in Le Monde.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Mushita and Bebey will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Story Hour: Is It an Alligator or a Crocodile? (ages 3–5)
2023-01-25 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read books both factual and fictional all about alligators and crocodiles, and you’ll find out how these two creatures differ. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as The Crocodile and the Dentist by Taro Gomi.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads and Library Volunteer Mary Wessels. They will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Online) Barnabas Calder on Architecture and Energy
2023-01-25 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
A central question in the climate debate today is that of energy. Yet the problem of energy–how to acquire it, how to wield it–is as old as human civilization. Behind every building, from the Parthenon to the modern home, lies the energy technology used to build it. Barnabas Calder’s project in Architecture: From Prehistory to Climate Emergency is to trace out the history of architecture from this perspective. From manual labor and the Parthenon to coal’s impact on Victorian building styles, Calder maps out transformations in built space along the timeline of industrialization. Leading us all the way to the present day, he proposes a new approach to energy, seeking to revolutionize architecture and lead us away from environmental collapse.
About the speaker:
Barnabas Calder is a historian of architecture specializing in the relationship between architecture and energy throughout human history. Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Liverpool, Calder is the author of two works: Architecture: From Prehistory to Climate Emergency (2021) and Raw Concrete: The Beauty of Brutalism (2016).
Important information: This event is online. Attendees will receive a Zoom link upon registration. Participants will be able to pose questions through the Zoom chat function.
This event requires advance registration.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Ecologues Meeting One: What is the Climate Crisis?
2023-01-26 19:00 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
We find ourselves firmly in the Anthropocene, the period in which human activity is the dominant influence on the natural world. We wonder: what is happening to the earth, the sky, and the oceans? How did we get here, and where are we going?
In partnership with News Decoder and the Climate Academy at the European School of Brussels, we’re delighted to announce Ecologues, a series of interactive webinars featuring experts on various aspects of the environmental crisis. Attached to The Writing’s on the Wall (WoW), a year-long project helping students across the world grapple with the climate crisis through journalism, activism, and art, the series will allow participants of all ages to deepen understanding, tackle disinformation and, ultimately, inspire change in their communities. Reconciling science and art, knowledge and action, pragmatism and hope, the conversations will stir curiosity and encourage participation.

About the speakers:
Alister Doyle, author of The Great Melt, formerly reported on the environment for Reuters.
Matthew Pye, founder of the Climate Academy, is a teacher, philosopher, and author.
Rahmina Paulette, founder of Kisumu Environmental Champs, is an activist and conservationist.
Important information: The 2023 series will unfold over six sessions, from 26 January to 29 June. Conversations will begin at 19h00 CET and run for ninety minutes. Conversations will be hybrid, taking place both in person at the American Library in Paris and online. Though participants are encouraged to join all six sessions for a holistic overview, the discrete and diverse nature of topics will allow audience members to attend based on interest. Alice McCrum, head of cultural programming at the American Library in Paris, will begin each conversation with brief opening remarks, before guiding an in-depth group discussion. The Library’s contribution to this joint program is supported by the Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Arts and Culture.

This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.

Caldecott Party (ages 6–12)
2023-01-28 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the “most distinguished American picture book for children.” This year, we’ll hold an event to try and predict the winner—and we’ll choose some of our own favorites while we’re at it.
Our children’s and teen services team have selected nominees based on professional reviews and a careful examination of titles (there is no shortlist for the award). On 28 January these books will be available in the Children’s Library, and visitors are invited to submit reviews for each book they read. You can read a book (or all of them!), fill out a ballot to rate the story and illustrations and then cast your vote for your favorite picture book of 2022.
All ages are welcome to participate, however small children will need an adult to help them with each part of our activities. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Looking to Sea with Lily Le Brun
2023-01-31 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Across British history, from ancient conflict to contemporary Brexit, the water surrounding the islands has served as a symbolic and political boundary as well as a physical landmark. Lily Le Brun’s innovative work Looking to Sea examines the central motif of the ocean across representations of modern British life. The sea–an instrument of both imperial expansion and isolation, a place of both leisure and work, representing both refuge and danger–has served as muse to British artists across centuries. Considering ten depictions of the sea from the past hundred years, Le Brun uncovers a changing and multifaceted image of Britain itself. Join her at the Library to discuss navigating the troubled waters of identity and ways of seeing oneself through the sea.
About the speaker:
Lily Le Brun is a writer from London. A graduate of Edinburgh University and the Courtauld Institute of Art, she has written on art for publications such as Art Quarterly, the Financial Times and the Economist. In 2018 Lily won a Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Award for the early chapters of Looking to Sea. She lives in Paris, and this is her first book. Author photo © Sophie Davidson.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Le Brun will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Story Hour: All Kinds of Love (ages 3–5)
2023-02-01 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read books about different types of love and friendship. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as Drawn Together by Minh Lê and Dan Santat.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads and Library Volunteer Mary Wessels. They will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Toni Ann Johnson and Robinne Lee on Light Skin Gone to Waste
2023-02-01 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
When a middle class Black family moves to an all-white suburb, fantasies of class ascension and racial transcendence clash with cruel realities. Thus begins screenwriter and author Toni Ann Johnson’s new release Light Skin Gone to Waste, an honest and devastating account of an already-fractured family’s collapse under the prism of a racialized world. With theatrical agility, Johnson stages a collision of individual psychologies with malignant social structures which has tragic proportions. A story of intergenerational trauma, cycles of abuse, childhood, marriage, lofty aspirations and high prices paid, the work lays bare the multiple networks of pain which have racism at their core. Johnson will be in conversation with author and actor Robinne Lee.
About the speakers:
Toni Ann Johnson won the Flannery O’Connor Award for her linked story collection Light Skin Gone to Waste (UGA Press, 2022), which was selected for the prize and edited by Roxane Gay. This work of autobiographical fiction follows the Arringtons, an upper-middle- class Black family that moves to a White, working-class town in Upstate New York in the 1960s. Homegoing, a novella, was released by Accents Publishing after winning the press’s inaugural novella contest and revisits the Arrington family and the town’s effect on them years later in 2006. A novel, Remedy For a Broken Angel, was published in 2014 and earned a 2015 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author.
Robinne Lee is a Jamaican-American writer, actor, and producer. A graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School, Robinne has accrued numerous acting credits in both film and television over the past two decades, most notably in “Hitch,” “Seven Pounds,” “Hotel for Dogs,” “13 Going on 30,” “Being Mary Jane,” and the “Fifty Shades” franchise. Her debut novel, The Idea of You, originally published by St. Martin’s Press in 2017, is now an international bestseller, with over a dozen foreign translations and is in production at Amazon Prime Studios with Anne Hathaway in the lead role. Robinne is attached as a producer. She can currently be seen in Netflix’s limited series “Kaleidoscope,” opposite Giancarlo Esposito.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Johnson and Lee will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event is organized in partnership with The Californien.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Toddler Time (ages 1–3)
2023-02-02 11:00 - 11:30 | The American Library in Paris
Stories featured during our Toddler Time programs include short picture books and board books, such as Please, Puppy, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, which will be included in this 2 February event.
Our Toddler Time is for children ages 1–3 and their caregivers, and lasts 30 minutes. This session will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads and Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard. Each child must be accompanied by an adult chaperone, and chaperones are required to remain with their children for the duration of the program. Parents and caregivers are expected to sit with their children beside them, or in their laps, and participate in the program. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Teen Night: 90s Movie Night (ages 12–18)
2023-02-03 19:00 - 21:30 | The American Library in Paris
Join us for a 90s movie night! Vote on the 90s film to you’d like to watch when you register for this event. Participate in 90s trivia at the start of the evening, then settle in with popcorn and enjoy a screening in the Library’s comfortable reading room. We’ll discuss the film as a group at the end of the night.
Drinks and light snacks will be provided. Important information:
Advance registration is required to attend this event, and each teen must have a signed permission slip on file at the Library in order to participate. Participation in teen events is free for Library members and 15€ per person for non-members. Library visitors are expected to familiarize themselves with the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Black Heroes—Library Scavenger Hunt (ages 6–12)
2023-02-04 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Learn about several important historical figures; then receive a few tips and tricks for navigating the Library before heading into the stacks to discover more information about Black heroes in American history.
Children must be accompanied by an adult chaperone for the duration of this event.
We encourage you to explore these resources (most recommended titles are available in the Library’s collections):
We Need Diverse Books strives to create a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book.
The Diverse BookFinder is a comprehensive collection of children’s picture books featuring Black and Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC).
Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Hybrid) Laurence Engel and Elaine Sciolino on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
2023-02-07 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
After twelve years of construction, the reopening of the 18th-century Bibliothèque nationale de France Richelieu site has been hailed as a triumph. From a museum exhibiting Greek vases, rare coins, and diverse costumes; to a lavish public reading room; to a peerless collection of manuscripts ranging from Proust to Pascal; the library serves as both a sumptuous celebration of French intellectual history and an inspiring community space for the French intellectual present. Join Bibliothèque nationale de France president Laurence Engel in conversation with New York Times journalist Elaine Sciolino to discuss the role of the BnF in the French cultural landscape: its rich past, its current status, and its exciting future.
About the speakers:
Laurence Engel has devoted most of her career to the cultural sectors. Director of the office of Jérôme Clément, President of Arte and la Cinquième, advisor for audiovisual and cinema to the Ministry of Culture and Communication, advisor for culture from 2003 to 2008 to the Mayor of Paris, she managed the cultural affairs department of the City of Paris for five years before becoming Chief of Staff to the Minister of Culture. She has been President of the Bibliothèque nationale de France since April 2016.
Elaine Sciolino is a contributing writer and former Paris bureau chief for the New York Times, based in France since 2002. Her latest book, The Seine: The River That Made Paris, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller and a Barnes & Noble nonfiction book-of-the-month selection. Her previous book, The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs, published in 2015, was a New York Times best seller. Sciolino was decorated chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 2010 for her “special contribution” to the friendship between France and the United States.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Engel and Sciolino will appear in the Reading Room), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.
This event requires advance registration.
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used by the American Library in Paris for marketing, promotional, pedagogical, or other purposes.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Story Hour: Valentine's Day (ages 3–5)
2023-02-08 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read books all about Valentine’s Day. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as Dino-Valentine’s Day by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Barry Gott.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads. She will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons. Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

D.I.Y. Valentines (ages 3–12)
2023-02-11 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste and volunteers in the Children’s Library to enjoy a Valentine’s Day story, then make your own original Valentines! Experiment with different artistic techniques to make a truly heart-felt Valentine for friends and family.
Children ages 6–12 may participate in the program on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library. Children ages 3–6 must have a chaperone with them at all times.
Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

Crash Course in Researching (ages 12–18)
2023-02-12 14:00 - 16:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard for a workshop dedicated to research and creating factual reports. We’ll focus on ways to gather accurate information, how to navigate the Library’s online databases, different ways to present your research, and methods of writing. Then, head into the stacks to complete a research challenge.
Participants are encouraged to bring along a laptop computer or electronic tablet for this workshop. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. All Library visitors are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.

(Online) Breaking the Silence on Sex with Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
2023-02-14 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
In groundbreaking work The Sex Lives of African Women, author and activist Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah does away with imposed silences and cultural taboos to investigate identity, gender, and expression through sex. Assembling interviews with Black and Afro-descendant women from a wide age range and over thirty countries, Sekyiamah shows that there is no univocal way to experience desire, intimacy, and love. From unabashed kinks to systemic abuse, she casts an unflinching eye upon the part of adult life least discussed publicly. Creating a space for women to put these experiences into words, Sekyiamah charts a path toward self-discovery and sexual freedom. Written through openness and with empathy, the work celebrates African female sexuality in all of its multiplicities.
About the speaker:
Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is the author of The Sex Lives of African Women (2021), listed by the Economist as a best book of the year and given a starred review in Publishers Weekly. She is also co-founder of Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, a website, podcast and festival that publishes and creates content that tells stories of African women’s experiences around sex, sexualities, and pleasure. She was cited by the BBC in its list of 100 inspirational and influential women from around the world in 2022.
Important information: This event is online. Attendees will receive a Zoom link upon registration. Participants will be able to pose questions through the Zoom chat function.
This event requires advance registration.
Evenings with an Author are free and open to the public (with a 10€ suggested donation)
thanks to the generous support of Gregory Annenberg Weingarten of GRoW @ Annenberg.

Story Hour: Winter Weather Clothes (ages 3–5)
2023-02-15 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read books both factual and fictional all about winter weather and the clothes we wear. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? by Eve Bunting and Sergio Ruzzier.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard. He will read books and lead you and your little one in songs and hand-rhymes during a live, interactive session. This participatory program is intended to encourage children to actively engage with stories. Plan to join in, sing along, and move around, and model movement and listening for your little one. We ask that all caregivers put away their phones and other electronic devices for the duration of this program. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. Caregivers are expected to familiarize themselves with the Library Policy for Children and the Rules and Code of Conduct so that we can provide a pleasant library environment for all patrons.
Questions about collections and programs for children and teens can be sent to the Library’s Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager, Celeste Rhoads: celeste@americanlibraryinparis.org.
