Les Bibliotheques de Bordeaux

To speed up the French learning process, we need French books, lots of them, for the kids.  We went to the library at Bordeaux city center, Les Bibliotheques de Bordeaux, one of the biggest public libraries in France.

Anyone who resides in Bordeaux can obtain a library card.  You just have to show your ID and proof of residency, a document with your current address.  The librarian who helped us spoke some English, super helpful.  It took some time for her to process all 5 cards.  Wherever we go, the request is always x5 😂  While waiting, I looked up, realizing how big this library is, 8 stories in total.  According to the librarian, the top 2 floors are not open to the public.  They hold very important old books.  I assume she meant ancient books.  The general public has access to Floor 1 to 4.  We were on floor 0, getting our library cards.  The main entrance was on floor -1.  

Floor 1 has books for the general public like nursery, children's books, fiction and non-fiction etc..  I snapped a couple of photos of the nursery and children's area.  The entire space is really well designed and inviting.

Here Nick is taking a well deserved break from reading a picture book 😆 Trust me reading in French was an exhausting activity.

Floor 2 is teens' heaven.  It has an arcade, a few PS4 stations along with cushy seats and all the games (you can borrow), lots of board games (you can play there), and a huge selection of music.  Which teen wouldn't want to spend time here?

I'm most impressed by the music room.  You can reserve a wide range of music instruments in the music room including piano.  The librarian told us that anyone can reserve to practice there and can do so two weeks in advance.  Noah's very excited about getting his hands on that piano.  

We spent well over an hour there and barely explored the first two floors in the building.  With all the books, music and entertainment there is in the library, I have a feeling it's going to be one of our frequently visited places.