Collection and spaces

The Monique Calixte Library was inaugurated on 29 July 1996, following the generous donation of a private collection. Monique Calixte, born in Haiti but having lived a large part of her life in France remained very close to her country of origin. After her death in August 1995, her parents and friends created an association named after Monique Calixte (AMC), based in the Paris region. The main objective of this association is to maintain the memory of Monique through the creation of the library at first and then to contribute to the organization of fundraising operations, sending books etc. FOKAL has been responsible for financing, recruiting and training staff, developing and organizing the collection and managing the library. From 1996 to 2003, the Monique Calixte library was located at 28, Cadet Jérémie Street in Carrefour-Feuilles. Since 2003, it has integrated the premises FOKAL’s resource center. The BMC is part of the LITTAFCAR network (www.littafcar.org) for the promotion for the promotion of French speaking literature from Africa and the Caribbean. This project (2012-2015) was financed mainly by the European Union and implemented by cultural centers in the ACP States (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) including the Artisttik Africa Center in Cotonou (Benin), the Fondation Connaissance et liberté (FOKAL) in Port-au-Prince (Haiti), the ISHYO center in Kigali (Rwanda) and the cultural NGO Coopération Education Culture (CEC) in Brussels (Belgium).

Spaces

Adult Space: There are books reserved for studies, professionals and other books specifically intended for adults. The Haitian collection is set apart as well as the collection of theater books for the Festival Quatre Chemins and the photography books.

Youth Space: This is the space for books reserved for schoolchildren over ten years old and for students. The books in this space are identifiable by colored stickers.

Children Space: reserved for toddlers and children under 10, has a large capacity of reception. Specific activities take place there such as story-telling or hands on workshops.

Multimedia Space: two terminals of five computers each are available free of charge for the consultation of CD-Roms and other audiovisual documents. Technical assistance for research and training sessions are also available.

The Harold Courlander American Corner: The collection of this space consists mainly of US documents in French. Three computers are available to perform free searches on the internet, on specific sites.