The Montreuil children's book fair closed its doors on Monday December 2 with a new attendance record for its 40th edition. : 198,000 people walked its paths. The last day is traditionally dedicated to professionals who work with these works. Some of them told us why the stopover in Montreal affects their future schedule and thus demonstrates that libraries, private or institutional, are always the winners.
First visit and “unique moment” in Montreuil
“It’s a unique moment in France, a summary of children’s literature which is the heart of my profession, with the meeting of both publishers and authors”summarizes Gaëlle, librarian in Rennes. In “presque” Twenty years in the business, she made her first visit to the Montreuil salon on Monday, December 2. She had tried several times to make the trip but “that was without counting the strikes”. This time, his plans were not thwarted. “I am very happy that there is no train strike today because it is really a round trip during the day”. Departure from Rennes at 7:35 a.m. for Paris and return at 6:35 p.m.
Montreuil, “it’s a source of inspiration for librarians, we come to look for favorites, to do prospecting as a youth specialist”. The living room “allows us to discover nuggets, to keep watch for our libraries and our small users. Young or old because I am part of the Champs Libres library, which is a large cultural establishment in the city of Rennes. It is a joy to see the authors, to attend debates, to participate in meetings designed for professionals in the form of a discovery tour with the publishers and that's really nice”. The discovery is “belle” more “relatively exhausting given the scale of the event”notes Gaëlle, smiling. “It’s a good day. We divided up our colleagues with what we had to do and we’re going to debrief on the train”she adds.
“I have the chance to work in a huge and beautiful facility which organizes cultural activities. Also, exploring the living room is equivalent to “monitor the highlights that may exist within the library. We are fortunate to be able to invite many authors. We also discover small publishers that we did not know like Le Port a jauni which publishes in Arabic and French. Multilingualism challenges us in this establishment which attracts a lot of population.
Les Champs Libres, the Rennes library “where the public square coexists as we like to say”is free for all.”A great pride”, rejoices Gaëlle. THE Youth collections are also enjoying some success there. “We must have more than 30% of the fund which leaves very regularly.”
Prepare nursery shopping
Laura, Aurélie and Enora, for their part, carried out a delicate mission for the sixty children aged 0 to 3 who they look after in a crèche in Vincennes. In the aisles, they came “discover new works”. “See what books and new themes we could introduce into our structures”continues Enora. “We are really looking for new things because we know the classics. At a show like this, we are bound to come across things that will catch the eye and please the children we welcome.”
“Little text”specifies Aurélie, listing certain criteria, “illustrations that change from the ordinary, rhymes, repetitions, sounds…” Themes also come into play. “Today, it's mainly emotions, Laura analysis. It is increasingly important to talk about it with new pedagogies. There is fear that comes up a lot. There is also cleanliness because it happens within the child's three years of life. Dad, mom, big sister, big brother…”. We also trust “to children's tastes“, adds Aurélie.
Wandering through this vast exhibition hall is an exercise that these professionals prefer to searching on the Internet. Nothing beats being in the place “where all the publishing houses are present”. “We can touch, underlines Aurélie, you can see the length of the text, it shouldn’t be too long, too complicated.” Young women ensure “They have quite a few photos.” The latter will help them prepare their orders which are to be placed in April 2025. They have an annual envelope of 500 euros, a “beau budget” granted by the municipality of Vincennes.
“There’s something for everyone, for everyone, summarizes Laura. Children must be able to have beautiful books, even if some are not systematically made available because they are too fragile. We need books that we will read as a group, others individually. We also need books that we will offer to families because there is, for example, a problem with nightmares at night. And then, the children also take the initiative and bring us books from home to share with the nursery.” In the spring, the storytellers will know if they made the right choice. The verdict will come down to one word at the end of each new story : “Encore”.
Feed the desires of the “Little Devourer”
In the corridors of Montreuil, we also found representatives of the Sarthe Lecture team based in Le Mans. She publishes every year The Little Devourer’s selection. “We promote albums all year round via (from this review), explains Anne Mongodin, departmental librarian. The show allows us to meet the authors we have read, to perhaps even make contacts to bring them in for possible events, to see the publishing houses and to exchange ideas. Supported by the Sarthe department and written from September to June, the magazine brings together “our own nuggets, the albums read and loved”adds Anne Mongondin.“When you come to Montreuil, it also allows you to see the exits.”
The reviewed works are intended for children aged 0 to 11 and the magazine, distributed to 4 500 copies, is available in the department's libraries.“It is for all parents, grandparents, mediators, health professionals, colleagues who work on departmental solidarity, in PMI (Maternal and child protection)for social assistance for children, for disabled audiences, for all those who know children's literature”says Célia Fouquet-Choplin.
“Departmental libraries are resources for other libraries, underlines Frédéric Gaboyer, librarian in the town of Montval-sur-Loir. Where I work, this magazine is a resource. We can use it directly or put it in the hands of families by telling them: “Go ahead with your eyes closed.” The Little Devourer will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary next year.
Biblionef, the NGO that brings books everywhere
Specializing in children's books (2 to 14 years old) and founded by Dominique Pace, the NGO Biblionef is taking advantage of Montreuil to make itself better known. “Our know-how, having the trust of publishers and an extremely large documentary collection that we can make available”explain Philippe Faroy, the thirty-year-old secretary general of the organization. “Librarians, managers of structures that work for access to reading, librarians, teachers, association leaders, etc.These are all the people that we are very happy to meet here because it allows us to start a certain number of projects.”
The NGO, which operates in France and abroad, has always devoted itself to children's literature because “everything happens between the first contacts with the book, at home, even more so when the child enters kindergarten and continues until the end of primary school”. “This is where the book must be almost the one and only medium for the approach to the acquisition of knowledge, insists Philippe Faroy. On early childhood, the book is essential“.
“Biblionef can only exist thanks to the intelligence partnership established with almost all of the children's publishers who, each year, are kind enough to offer us a large number of quantities per title of new books before putting them in the pestle”continues the secretary general of Biblionef. And this in the majority of cases “for free”.
“We receive between 120 and 150,000 new books each year, which allows us to maintain a documentary collection of 300,000 books, or 1 200 titles. I have that many, 120 to 150,000 that come out every year. Being present at the show allows us to create a link with publishers, to see the new collections, to show them what we have done. This is the only space in the year where we are present in terms of communication. We are here to let people know.”.
In France, the “reading and culture” spaces of the ADMR des Vosges (first local associative network) benefit from the support of Biblionef. Likewise, the NGO has carried out projects with the French Institute in Lisbon, the French Embassy in Armenia and the Zakoura Foundation in Morocco.
