At the Louise-Walser-Gaillard library in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, eleven babies aged 9 to 24 months are waiting patiently on colorful rugs this Wednesday morning. It is 10:30 a.m. and it is time for nursery rhymes, which here have the particularity of being told in sign language. Accompanied by one of their parents or their nanny, the babies are seated opposite Morgane and Valérie. Morgane is deaf and tells stories in sign language in a duet with Valérie, who is hard of hearing, who translates them orally. Both are very excited at the idea of sharing stories about animals and the starry sky with their very young audience.
Morgane created “nursery rhymes that use rhythms and hand configurations that are always the same, because those written for hearing people are not at all adapted to sign language”explains Catherine, head of the deaf unit. In front of her, some babies are very focused and imitate Morgane’s gestures with attention, while others, more agitated, start crawling from one end of the room to the other. After a few nursery rhymes and stories comes a moment of sharing where the books are distributed to the babies who can then leaf through them.
Indy, 10 months old and a sweater dotted with blue sharks, came to attend the workshop accompanied by his mother: “For us, it’s important that he has this attraction to the book, even if at the beginning it consists of making a mess. They are not necessarily attentive, they listen a little, look at each other, but it gives them a sensitivity to reading.” Most of these very young children are hearing and are introduced to reading through this moment of discovery. “Our vision is to let children be free, they will capture what they want when they want it. It’s important that it’s a pleasure, for us but also for them,” explains Valérie, who says she has “a foot between two worlds”.
Agents trained in sign language
The location is not, however, a coincidence: the library is one of the five deaf centres in the City of Paris and all its staff are trained in sign language, in order to provide an inclusive welcome. Louise Walser-Gaillard, born in 1879, was a deaf poet and activist who, in 1912 at the Sorbonne, exposed the difficulties faced by deaf children and criticised religious education as unsuitable for them, because it was entirely oral.
Visitors and librarians thus learn to adapt in order to communicate. “When our readers find themselves faced with a deaf person at reception to obtain information, they adapt in communication through writing, through mime…”, adds Catherine. A particularity which fits with the general mission of libraries, according to Sylvie Da Costa, deputy director: “Promote the unconditional welcome of all audiences regardless of their age, social situation or disability. »
