"Books are always such delightful discoveries" (Edward Gordon Craig)

Are you a bookworm? Nothing you like to do more than curl up with a thrilling tome on these chilly, wet, miserable summer day sin darkest Grenoble? Take heart! The Library in rue Ste. Ursule is the place to find 3,000 or more excellent books, many just published, famous fiction from Barbara Cartland to peter Hoeg, from Mary Higgins Clark to A.S. Byatt, from Barbara Kingsolver to... well, I am sure you have got the hang of it.

In school holidays (since most of the volunteers have grand children to deal with on Wednesday afternoons only, 4 to 6 pm; during the term:

but wiser to check at the beginning of this new academic year.

Where are we?

You can join the Library for €15 a year or €7.50 for students and job-seekers. Membership is free to association members. come and brows, it is peaceful in the calm and shady courtyard, an oasis of peace in the centre of the town, between the Museum car-park and the Police Station.

You can take the tram to the stop called Notre Dame/Musée. Walk down rue du Vieux Temple starting just near Notre Dame Cathedral, turn right at the end and Babel is the first wooden coach door on the right. Ring the bell marked Babel. As we said, there is a good selection of fiction for adults and plenty for children; good dictionaries may be consulted in situ; the biography, poetry and general non-fiction is being beefed up; the video section is gaining status.

The Library is run under the auspices of the associations: Babel, Alliance Grenoble-Oxford and Open House, but non-members can borrow books for a small fee.

Babel's phone number is +33 4 76 84 86 (please make it clear you are phoning about the library). Otherwise you can e-mail Alison Coulavin for more information.