Alliance Française de Manchester - Learn French in Manchester, Immersion Courses and French Culture, French courses

What is it?

The "Médiathèque francophone" of the Alliance française de Manchester is the largest French speaking resource centre in the region. It has more than 2 000 books (classical and modern novels, comic books, theatre, poetry, travel guides, arts etc.), 1 000 DVDs (fiction and documentaries) and 15 subscriptions to weekly and monthly periodicals (fashion, current affairs, gastronomy, tourism, culture etc.) A PC allows you to access resources on line (music, videos etc) like for example the platform Culturethèque.

The "Médiathèque francophone" is the ideal place to keep up to date and deepen your knowledge of contemporary French speaking civilisation but also to accompany your study of the language.

The « Bibliothèque de l’apprenant »

The "Bibliothèque de l'apprenant" ("Learner's Library") is a section especially organised to support students at all levels in their learning of French. Items (books, cartoons, DVDs etc) are selected by our teaching staff and classified by levels are colour-coded (A1=red, A2=yellow, B1=green and B1+=blue). Easy to find your level and choose!

From beginner to more advanced, there is something for every level!

How to become a member?

Access to the Médiathèque francophone and on the spot consultation is welcome and free for everyone. To borrow items however, you must be a member of the Alliance française de Manchester (NB all students of the Alliance française de Manchester are automatically members for 12 months).

If you are not a student of the Alliance française de Manchester, you can become a member by completing a form and paying the follwing membership fees:

- full rate (family): £33 for 12 months
- full rate (individual): £22 for 12 months
- student rate: £11 for 12 months (special rate of £5 between 01/09/2012 and 31/10/2012).

The membership card allows you to enjoy the following privileges: reduced ticket prices on cultural events organised by the Alliance française de Manchester, reduced ticket prices for French speaking films at Cornerhouse and discount to our partners Epicerie Ludo and Restaurant 63 degrees.

Hours and conditions

Opening hours:
- Monday-Thursday: 9.30am-8.30pm
- Friday: 9.30am-4.30pm
- Saturday: 9.30am-12.30pm

Membership allows you to borrow up to 10 items at a time (20 for family membership):
- 4 (10) books for up to 3 weeks;
- 4 (8) magazines for 1 week;
- 2 DVDs for 1 week (£1/DVD).

If an item is overdue there is a fine of 10p per item from the first day it becomes overdue. If the item is lost the member will have to cover the cost of replacing the item, together with a fee of £3 to cover re-ordering and delivery costs of a replacement.

Renewal: in person, by telephone 0161 236 7117 or via email to library@afmanchester.org

Culturethèque: a French 'médiathèque' online!

Culturethèque is an online platform offering cultural and educational content in French. It proposes the best of French culture:

- more than 5000 contemporary e-books in French: contemporary novels, French classics, essays, travel and culinary guide books, information about studying in France, rare editions dating from between the 17th and 18th centuries, etc.;
- audio books, podcasts, recordings of conferences held at the Institut since 1967 (Etienne Balibar, Julia Kristeva, Michel Butor, Patrick Chamoiseau, Pierre Boulez, etc.);
- French films on VOD, more than 500 French documentary films about major current issues (climate, ecology, immigration, religion, etc.).

Find more information on: www.culturetheque.org.uk