Today, Elena and I went to the Bibliotheque Anglophone (formerly Americaine) which is part of a University Paul Valery Inter-university Library on the east bank of the Lez River by the Plaza of the French Revolution. The library is up on the second floor at teh top of a large diameter spiral staircase. It's not super big, but it has about 25,000-30,000 books, about half the space for fiction and half for non-fiction. It also has free internet (for members) and a desk where you can study. And finally, it has a selection of DVDs which can be rented for 2 euros for movies and 1 euro for serial things like tv shows. Magazines are available and can be checked out as soon as the next issue arrives. There weren't too many magazines. Newspapers (I don't remember seeing them) can be checked out when they are a week old.
The librarian we met was Francoise. She was very helpful and friendly. We filled out a library card right on the spot. Since the library is supported by its subscribers, there is a charge for the card, but it is a reasonable 26.68 euros (18.29 for students and 60.98 for families). I asked why it's such an odd number. It's because it used to a round number in the days of the French Franc, but when they switched to the euro, it would have taken too much bureaucracy t o actually round up the price to the next euro. There's France and its bureaucracy.
Hours are 9:30 to 6:30 weekdays except Monday where it opens at 2:00. Those are September to June hours. Perhaps July and August it closes?
We checked out 2 books and rented the DVD Notes on a Scandal.
So if you're in Montpellier for a while and want access to a library with English, this is the place to come.
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