American Library in Paris

Story Hour: Rainy Days (ages 3–5)
2023-03-15 14:30 - 15:30 (Europe/Paris) | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read tales both factual and fictional all about rainy days, and the weather. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as Rain! by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Christian Robinson.
This Story Hour will be hosted by Assistant Children’s and Teens’ Services Librarian Jason Hazard and Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads. 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) Noga Arikha on the Self and the Disrupted Mind
2023-03-14 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Philosopher Noga Arikha’s decision to study neuropsychiatric patients at a hospital in Paris was not initially motivated by personal experience. However, when her mother began to succumb to dementia, Arikha’s research into the threats to the self posed by mental illness took on new dimensions. Seeking to understand the confrontation of the mind with its own dissolution, Arikha grew close to a network of patients whose variety of symptoms defied neat classification and whose loss of identity is a current of intense pain throughout Arikha’s new work, The Ceiling Outside. Empathic and unflinching, the book details the fragility of the mind, the limits of medical practice, and, above all, the humanity of all beings trying to grapple with who they are. Arikha will appear in conversation with writer Rachel Donadio.
About the speaker:
Noga Arikha is a philosopher, historian of ideas and essayist who works as a “science humanist”. Her book The Ceiling Outside: The Science and Experience of the Disrupted Mind was published in spring 2022 by Basic Books. She is also the author of Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humours (2007). She is a Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute in Fiesole, Associate Fellow of the Warburg Institute and of the Center for the Politics of Feelings (London), Research Associate at the Institut Jean Nicod (Paris), and Research Associate at the Fotopoulou Lab at UCL.
Rachel Donadio is a Paris-based writer and journalist, a contributing writer for the Atlantic, and a former Rome Bureau Chief and European Culture correspondent for the New York Times. She regularly publishes textured profiles and features at the intersection of culture and politics, as well as literary criticism. Since 2022 she has been the administrator of the American Library in Paris annual Book Award.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Arikha and Donadio 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.
Please note the Daylight Savings gap between the US and France. This event will take place at 19h30 CET / 14h30 EDT
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.

Saturday Series: Fractured Fables (ages 6–12)
2023-03-11 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Discuss fairy tales and fables, then explore how you can alter these classic stories to create your own original fractured fairy tale or fable. Join us for this writing workshop and then get started on your own piece for the Library’s Young Authors Fiction Festival here.

Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads will host this event with the help of Library volunteers, and will be available to answer questions about the Young Authors Fiction Festival.

Children between the ages 8–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library. Children ages 6–8, and children who cannot yet write on their own must have a chaperone with them to assist with writing.
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.

Youth Leadership Program (ages 14–18) (FULL)
2023-03-10 19:00 - 21:00 | The American Library in Paris
This public speaking club is for teens ages 14-18. The YLP is led by the teen participants themselves with the guidance and support of Toastmasters from several groups in the Paris area and the American Library in Paris’ Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager. Toastmasters participate at each meeting to coach and help evaluate.

Participants between the ages of 14-18 were selected for this program based on applications sent in August 2023. Applications will be open on 31 March for the 2023–2024 Youth Leadership Program, and will close on 31 July 2023. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. All 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.

Teen Advisory Group meeting (FULL) (ages 12–18)
2023-03-10 17:30 - 18:30 | The American Library in Paris
Teen Advisory Group (TAG) members provide valuable feedback and share ideas about the Library’s teen programs, services, and collections. This club is open for Library members ages 12–18 by application. TAG 2022–2023 is full. Applications for the 2022–2023 club were accepted through 31 July 2022, and will open for the 2023-2023 season on 31 March 2023.
Members of this group are asked to:

Brainstorm suggestions for future teen programs
Help with preparation of programs
Offer input and suggestions about policies
Advise on furnishings and decorations for the Teen Mezzanine
Offer opinions on selected books that we are considering adding to our collections
Promote the Library as a great place to be, to work, to study, and to read

Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads facilitates each meeting, and will take notes on all of the comments and feedback. If you are interested in joining the Teen Advisory Group next year, you can find out more here. 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 at The London Library) Nancy Cunard, Jazz Age Icon
2023-03-09 20:30 - 21:30 | The London Library, 14 St James's Square, London, London, SW1Y 4LB, United Kingdom
Nancy Cunard, writer, heiress and political activist, was an icon of the Jazz Age, who was said to have inspired half the poets and novelists of the twenties.
Rebelling against expectations to pursue a life in the arts, she moved between the glamorous cafes and artistic circles of London and Paris, reading widely, writing poetry, campaigning for civil rights and fighting fascism. Her Paris life – the focus of Anne de Courcy’s glorious new biography – was filled with art, sex and alcohol. Mina Loy wrote poems to her; Constantin Brâncuși sculpted her; Man Ray photographed her; she played tennis with Ernest Hemingway and had love affairs with, amongst others, Ezra Pound, Aldous Huxley, Louis Aragon and jazz musician Henry Crowder, with whom she ran a printing press.
In conversation with American Library in Paris Programs Manager Alice McCrum at The London Library, de Courcy discusses Five Love Affairs and a Friendship, a tempestuous tale of passion and intrigue, which is as much a portrait of twenties Paris as it is the story of an extraordinary woman who defined her age.
About the speakers:
Anne de Courcy is the author of fourteen widely acclaimed works of social history and biography, including, Chanel’s Riviera, The Husband Hunters, The Fishing Fleet, The Viceroy’s Daughters and Debs at War. In the 1970s she was Woman’s Editor on the London Evening News and in the 1980s she was a regular feature-writer for the Evening Standard.
Alice McCrum is the head of cultural programming at The American Library in Paris. She also studies at Sciences Po, and co-hosts a podcast at Shakespeare and Company.
Important information: This event will happen offsite at The London Library and will be live-streamed on Zoom.
Access to this event requires purchase of a ticket through The London Library. Click on the button below to purchase your ticket.

(Hybrid) Philippe Sands on Britain’s Living Colonial Legacy
2023-03-08 19:00 - 20:15 | The American Library in Paris
Please note that this event will exceptionally begin at 19h00 CET.
In the immediate post-World War II period, the founding of the International Court of Justice heralded a new age of international cooperation according to a shared code of human rights. Thirty years later, in flagrant violation of these rights, the UK forcibly removed the population of the Chagos Islands in order to found the British Indian Ocean Territory. In new work The Last Colony, human rights lawyer Philippe Sands exposes the heart of this scandal and his experience defending the case of Chagossian repatriation in 2018 in the court of The Hague itself. Sharing stories from Chagossians forced into exile and demystifying the legal framework, Sands uncovers a hidden history of British colonialism unfolding in the present day.
About the speaker:
Philippe Sands KC is Professor of Law at University College London and Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard. He is a practicing barrister at 11KBW, appears as counsel before the International Court of Justice and other international courts and tribunals, and sits as an international arbitrator. He is a Board Member of Hay Festival and President of English PEN. His latest books are East West Street: On the Origins of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide (2016), The Ratline: Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive (2020) and The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain’s Colonial Legacy (2022).
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Sands 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: Classics and Favorites (ages 3–5)
2023-03-08 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read classic children’s stories, and new Library favorites. Each Story Hour program features short picture books such as Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beatty, illustrated by David Roberts, as well as songs and rhymes.
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) Getting Life Back on Track with Oliver Mol
2023-03-07 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Listed as a best Australian book of 2022 by the Guardian, writer Oliver Mol’s new memoir, Train Lord, tells the story of how a chronic, 10-month-long migraine subsumed him, robbing him of writing, reading, and–ultimately–existence itself. “Two things happened,” Mol notes, “I became a writer who no longer wrote, and a person who could no longer communicate with the modern world. In literature, and life, I began to disappear.” Steadied by a job as a train guard, and surrounded by a new collection of characters, Mol reflects on his new vocation with wit and honesty, sharp images and deep emotions. Ultimately Train Lord captures the experience of pain, but it also captures the bright ideas of possibility, creativity, and growth that pain so often trails in its wake.
About the speaker:
Oliver Mol is the author of Lion Attack! (Scribe Publications, 2015) and Train Lord (Penguin Michael Joseph, 2022), which was a Guardian, Australian Book Review and Sydney Morning Herald book of the year. He is a contributing editor at Apartamento Magazine and was a 2022 Marten Bequest Scholar for Prose through the Australian Council for the Arts. He grew up in Australia, and currently lives in Paris.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Mol 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.

Beginning Your Short Story (ages 8–12)
2023-03-04 15:00 - 16:30 | The American Library in Paris
Explore what elements are needed to create a successful short story, and get tips and tricks on writing your own piece during this small-group workshop with YAFF Coordinator Kirsty McCulloch Reid. Find out more about the Library’s Young Authors Fiction Festival here.

Children between the ages 8–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library.
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.

Saturday Series: Focus on Collage (ages 6–12)
2023-03-04 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Look at the collage work of children’s illustrators Sophie Blackall, Oge Mora, Susan Roth, and others, then create your own collage pieces.

Children between the ages 6–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library.
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: Pizza and Games
2023-03-03 19:00 - 21:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join us for a game tournament and enjoy pizza! Get to know other teens as you learn new games, and try something new. Compete in teams.
This event will be hosted by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads, with the help of Library volunteers. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. All 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.

Toddler Time (ages 1–3)
2023-03-02 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 Sugar and Snails by Sarah Tsiang, which will be included in this 2 March 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 Manager 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.

(Hybrid) Linda Kinstler on the Haunting of History
2023-03-01 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
What is the nature of proof, and how is it obfuscated by memory and time? Faced with indescribable monstrosities, what level of justice can a court trial achieve? In the aftermath of a totalitarian regime, what remains of national memory? In Linda Kinstler’s rich and probing work Come to This Court and Cry, family and international history intertwine in an investigation a Latvian Nazi killing squad. The granddaughter of a member of this group, Kinstler uncovers decades of revisionist practices which rehabilitated its figurehead and rewrote historical reality. From legal cases to cultural narratives and evolving national identities, Kinstler demonstrates the world’s failure to reckon with the Holocaust and its enduring, haunting presence today. Kinstler will be in conversation with journalist Madeleine Schwartz.
About the speakers:
Linda Kinstler is the author of Come to This Court and Cry: How the Holocaust Ends (Le Contraire De L’Oubli, Denoël, January 2023). She is the deputy editor of The Dial magazine and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, The Economist, and other publications. She is a PhD candidate in Rhetoric at U.C. Berkeley, where she is writing a history of legal oblivion. Kinstler is Deputy Editor of The Dial.
Madeleine Schwartz is a journalist and editor based in Paris whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The London Review of Books and The New York Review of Books. Schwartz is Editor-in-Chief of The Dial.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Kinstler and Schwartz 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: Endangered Animals (ages 3–5)
2023-03-01 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read books both factual and fictional all about endangered animals. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as Hello, Hello by Brenden Wenzel.
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) Lex Paulson on Philosophy and Power
2023-02-28 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Does “the will of the people” exist? How could any community of divided views and changing minds ever have a single will? And where did we get the idea that self-government could only happen through elections and ruling elites?
The answer emerges in the story of a young orator from the Italian countryside who rose to the heights of power as his republic fell apart. Cicero and the People’s Will is an adventure story of ideas, centered on the creative genius of Rome’s greatest orator and most underappreciated thinker, Marcus Tullius Cicero. Surviving plots, exile, and the rise of Julius Caesar, Cicero fuses Roman tradition with Greek philosophy, establishing an idea–popular sovereignty through an elected elite–that failed in his time but has shaped the modern world.
About the speaker:
Dr. Lex Paulson is Executive Director of the UM6P School of Collective Intelligence (Morocco) and lectures in advocacy at Sciences Po-Paris. Trained in classics and community organizing, he served as mobilization strategist for the campaigns of Barack Obama in 2008 and Emmanuel Macron in 2017. He served as legislative counsel in the 111th U.S. Congress (2009-2011), organized on six U.S. presidential campaigns, and has worked to advance democratic innovation at the European Commission and in India, Tunisia, Egypt, Uganda, Senegal, Czech Republic and Ukraine. He is author of Cicero and the People’s Will: Philosophy and Power at the End of the Roman Republic, from Cambridge University Press, and is co-editor of the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Collective Intelligence for Democracy and Governance.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Paulson 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.

Bookworms Book Club: "Flying Lessons and Other Stories" (ages 9–12)
2023-02-25 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
Discuss the short story collection Flying Lessons and Other Stories, and explore what elements are needed to create a successful short story. After our discussion, participants will begin stories of their own—just in time for the Library’s Young Authors Fiction Festival!

Each participant should read the book Flying Lessons and Other Stories before attending this book club activity. Copies are available in the Library’s collections.

Children between the ages 6–12 may participate in Library programs on their own, while their chaperone remains inside the Library.
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.

Ecologues Meeting Two: Environmental Justice
2023-02-23 19:00 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
If environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies, then there is much to do. Where to start?
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. The Library’s contribution to this joint program is supported by the Florence Gould Foundation and the American Center for Arts and Culture.
About the speakers:

Marie Cohuet, spokesperson for Alternatiba, is a climate and social justice activist.

Paul Spencer Sochaczewski, former head of creative services for WWF, is a writer, journalist, and lecturer.

Floriane Marié specializes in climate education in Latin America and Africa.

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.
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.

(Online) Deesha Philyaw on The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
2023-02-22 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, a debut short story collection from author Deesha Philyaw, places Black female desire on proud display. The work, currently being adapted for television by HBO Max with Tessa Thompson executive producing, is populated by a rich cast of voices spanning multiple generations in the South of the United States. Exploring the varied intersections of religion and sexuality, from trysts with pastors to suppressed queer attraction, the stories celebrate women who learn what it means to want. Philyaw sanctifies the sinful, demonstrating that that the most godly activity of all is that of shameless, embodied love. She will speak virtually at the library about writing worship in all of its different, sensual forms.
About the speaker:
Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (2020), won the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the 2020/2021 Story Prize, and the 2020 LA Times Book Prize: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. Philyaw is also a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow and will be the 2022-2023 John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi.
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: Blast-Off (ages 3–5)
2023-02-22 14:30 - 15:30 | The American Library in Paris
For this Story Hour, we’ll read books both factual and fictional all about space, planets and space exploration. Books included in this Story Hour are short picture books such as Nuts in Space by Elys Dolan.
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) Joshua Rubenstein on The Last Days of Stalin
2023-02-21 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
In 1952, Stalin terrorized the USSR with his seemingly limitless supply of power. Within three months of 1953, he was dead. What plans was he setting into motion before his death, and what were the immediate effects of his passing? Had he not suffered the ultimately fatal stroke, what would history look like now? In new work The Last Days of Stalin, Historian Joshua Rubenstein uncovers hidden depths to Stalin’s final months as dictator, and highlights surprising policy shifts and missed diplomatic opportunities between the Eisenhower administration and the Soviet regime in the post-Stalin era. Join him in conversation with Edward Charlton-Jones at the Library as they discuss this conclusive period and its lasting consequences.
About the speakers:
Joshua Rubenstein has written and edited several path-breaking books on Soviet history, with a focus on the dissident movement, the Holocaust on German-occupied Soviet territory, and biographies of Leon Trotsky and Ilya Ehrenburg. The Last Days of Stalin is his tenth book. He was an organizer and regional director for Amnesty International USA from 1975 to 2012. He is a longtime Associate of Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.
Edward Charlton-Jones studied History and Russian at Oxford and Harvard. He has written and lectured on the Russian emigration to Constantinople in 1918-1923, as well as on aspects of Russian literature and art. He has practiced law in Paris and Istanbul, with a focus on international energy projects.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Rubenstein and Charlton-Jones 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.

Dystopian Worlds: A Book Club (ages 12–18)
2023-02-18 15:00 - 16:00 | The American Library in Paris
Join us to discuss dystopian worlds! Each participant should read at least one dystopian novel, and bring it along to discuss with the rest of the group.
Here are a few recommendations, which can be found in the Library’s collections:
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Matched by Ally Condie
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Legend by Marie Lu
Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher
Scythe by Neal Shusterman

This book club meeting will be facilitated by Children’s and Teens’ Services Manager Celeste Rhoads. Light snacks and drinks will be provided. Important information:
This event is for Library members, and advance registration is required. All 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.

This is Not a Box (ages 0–12)
2023-02-18 11:00 - 12:00 | The American Library in Paris
For this event, we’ll read This is Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, and then children and their grown-ups are invited to join in imaginative play with boxes of all sizes! Older children will be invited to experiment with boxes of all shapes and sizes to create their own original constructions.
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.

Critical Conversations Meeting Four: Wonderment
2023-02-16 19:00 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Most would agree that wonderment is a state of mind which cannot be called up at will. But do certain conditions encourage or obstruct it? Guy Debord, the Dadaists, and others described the May 1968 student protests in Paris as a poetic revolution against the ubiquity 4 of the marketplace and its pressures, which made facets of consciousness such as wonderment, curiosity, reverie, and playfulness more difficult to experience.
Is wonderment indeed harder to come by in modernity, as we move away from traditions of magic and mystery such as myth, religion and monarchism? And does the efficiency underpinning a digital lifestyle invite or hinder the wide-eyed state we call wonder? Can a photograph of the northern lights trigger in us a true state of wonder, say, or does wonderment most often arise from multisensorial experience? Is wonderment an occasional influx of heightened feeling, or might it be indicative of a life well lived? Finally, what does wonderment, or the lack of it, teach us?
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?
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 or thoughts.
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.

Toddler Time (ages 1–3)
2023-02-16 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 Lola Loves Stories by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw, which will be included in this 16 February event.
Our Toddler Time is for children ages 1–3 and their caregivers, and lasts 30 minutes. This session will be hosted by 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.

(Hybrid) Caroline Fourest on the Offended Generation
2023-02-15 19:30 - 20:30 | The American Library in Paris
Have cultural conflicts invaded our private lives and private minds? Should we be concerned by the cult of identity? Does adherence to origins endanger free democratic exchange? In polemic treatise Génération Offensée, author Caroline Fourest outlines the biggest threat currently facing the intellectual left: itself. From canceling Dostoevsky to firing professors at will, Fourest uncovers a self-cannibalizing instinct at the heart of leftism which is eating the movement from the inside. This fight against offense has finally arrived in France, she argues, and brought with it its entourage cultural police turned thought police. Without any desire to return to the way things were before, Fourest proposes a simultaneously feminist, antiracist, and universalist path forward which allows for a distinction between cultural plunder and cultural homage.
About the speaker:
Caroline Fourest is a filmmaker, director, and journalist. She was the co-founder of the feminist, anti-racist and secularist journal ProChoix and taught at Sciences-Po Paris on themes of multiculturalism and universalism. Fourest has been columnist for Le Monde, France Culture, and Marianne, directed feminist film Sisters in Arms (2019), and now directs Franc-Tireur, a weekly newspaper against polarization and extremism.
Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (Fourest 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: 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.

(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.

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.

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.
