March 1998
Assemblée Générale -
Annual Meeting
The Friends of the American
Library held its annual meeting on Monday February 2nd at 12 noon. Thanks to
all of you who sent in your proxy forms, we were able to take care of all old and new
business (including the election of a new board) without having to call for an additional
meeting.
As announced in January’s newsletter, Claude Clerc has decided to
step down as president of the Association. Claude’s many activities will keep her
very busy and will involve a lot of travel. Who said retirement is restful?! We thank
Claude for her dedication and hard work and we wish her well.
The newly-elected board consists of the following members:
Annie Gravier - President
Mavis Nugent - Vice-President
Nicole Chevaugeon- Treasurer
Kevin Lightner - Secretary
Françoise Vilain - Public Relations
Charles Whitworth - Relations with University Paul Valéry
Peggy Fattoum - American Women’s Group contact
Professor Charles Whitworth has officially joined the board as the
contact person in charge of relations with the Université Paul Valéry. Charles’
position in the English Department and as a member of the University committee that
oversees the administration of the American Library makes him an especially valuable
member of our new board. He keeps us up to date on matters pertaining to University
affairs and helps the Library staff plan its book purchases by keeping us informed about
the subjects covered in the English program.
Peggy Fattoum has joined to board as the contact person for the American
Women’s Group of Languedoc-Roussillon. She provides the link between the AWG and
the Friends of the Library and helps us organize our Open House and Book Sale events among
other things.
Coming Events
The main event in March is the
upcoming performance of the Word for Word theater troupe that will take place on
March 21 at 6:00 p.m. at the Maison Pour Tous Marie Curie in Celleneuve.
Last year’s performance of Edith Wharton’s XINGU was a resounding success.
Word for Word's performances are made possible by a generous grant from
the Florence Gould Foundation and support from Air France.
This year’s story is entitled "The Blues I’m
Playing." This short story was written by Langston Hughes, a noted
African-American novelist and poet. Langston Hughes’ work is representative of the
"Harlem Renaissance", a period of spectacular artistic
achievement that blossomed in New York City’s Harlem. The movement is generally
considered to have begun just after the First World War only to be cut short by the Great
Depression of the 1930’s.
The Blues I’m Playing is an excellent example of Harlem
Renaissance literature and provides an insightful look at American society and its race
relations at the time. The Library has several copies of the story for members who wish to
read it before the performance. The Library also has background material on the movement
as well as a comprehensive collection of Langston Hughes’ work.
Other Events
If you come to the Library and
you don’t see Françoise, she is most likely in one of the back rooms hard at work
sorting and pricing books for the next Book Sale. The date for the next Open House and
Book Sale is already set for June 6th. Make sure you mark this date on your
calendars. This event just gets bigger and better every year. Don’t miss it!
We’re also working on organizing another American Library
Author Series event. We’re still in the preliminary contact stage so we
can’t say anything about it yet. We’ll provide more details in our next
newsletter.
