Joie de Livre

BOSTON’S FRENCH LIBRARY has the easy elegance of an accomplished femme d’un certain age. A symbol of the enduring friendship between America and France, the library—now in its 80th year— has evolved rather quietly from a wartime gesture into an extraordinary organization that boasts the largest private collection of French books and media anywhere outside of France. It’s an impressive place, but not an intimidating one, thanks to a friendly staff that’s keen to spread France’s major cultural export: joie de vivre.

Though well established, the French Library is still something of an enigma for many Bostonians, even for its Back Bay neighbors. Barbara Bouquegneau, the library’s executive director and president, is determined to grow the number of people the organization touches. She has dedicated the last 25 years of her life to finding creative new ways of fulfilling the library’s mission to share francophone books and culture with others.

ABOUT MORE THAN BOOKS

“We are much more than a place to just borrow books,” explains Bouquegneau. “We are a cultural space, an educational space, a community space.”

Speaking French is encouraged but not required.

“You don’t have to speak French to enjoy the library,” she adds. “Almost all our programs are in both French and English. We like it if you say ‘Bonjour,’ but we say ‘Hello’ too.”

The trilingual, Belgian-born Bouquegneau (the “gn” is pronounced like an “n” with a Spanish tilde, she notes) has a friendly but exacting air, influenced, she says, by a relatively formal upbringing under the tutelage of her scientist father. If she didn’t know the meaning of a word, she explains, he made her look up the definition in three different dictionaries and read it aloud.

“Not very much like a typical American family,” she laughs. “But it taught me a love of learning, and the importance of precision.”

When it was time for college, her parents gave Bouquegneau two career choices: engineering or medicine. She opted for the first and completed her degree, but later wound up at Boston University to pursue filmmaking and became particularly fascinated by sound design, which led to a film assistant job at the library. There she stayed, moving up the administrative ladder and helping to expand the library’s list of cultural and business partners in the surrounding community.

BRINGING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT

Bouquegneau’s ear for language is matched by her eye for detail. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she oversaw an ambitious renovation that balances the mansion’s Victorian-era grandeur with an airy contemporary minimalism. Traditional architectural details (bay windows, ornate cornice work, high ceilings and a stunning spiral staircase) are modernized by white walls and modular furniture in bright colors, lending the space a comfortable, stylish feel.

The library’s extensive book and media collection is spread across multiple rooms on several floors. A new elevator whisks patrons and staff from floor to floor. Natural light floods in from large, curtainless windows. Ample sofas and cozy reading nooks beckon readers to spend a few hours with Molière, Duras, a Haitian author’s searing memoir, or the latest copy of Le Monde. An atmosphere of calm, efficient sophistication pervades.

The programming is inspired. French cooking classes are held in a wonderfully serious-looking kitchen on the first floor— complete with hanging copper pans— where Julia Child once practiced her art. There, you can learn to make macarons while you drink champagne. Experts will also teach you how to evaluate a côtes du rhône and reveal what inspired Van Gogh to paint his mailman portraits. There’s a Theatre Club so you can act out scenes from contemporary and classic French language plays, a Cine Club for francophone film enthusiasts (subtitles in English), a Book Club, and a Photo Club. There are also plenty of children’s programs, including French story time from 11:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Children’s classrooms are full of French language games, puzzles and the latest media.

Naturally, the library supports the learning of its mother tongue. The school’s immersive French classes and programs for adults and children are all taught by native speakers, and the library is a member of the Alliance Française network, which uses a standardized methodology for teaching French.

ANSWERING THE CALL

Bouquegneau is the most recent in a sequence of women and men who have dedicated their lives to the French Library.

The first woman to do so was Kentucky-born librarian Belle P. Rand, who had such a passion for French culture that it made her something of a local legend. Rand was working in Boston in 1940 when Germany occupied France, and Charles de Gaulle appealed to the free world for his country’s liberation and the preservation of all things French. Americans responded warmly by creating France Forever, an organization that honored the centuries-old link between the two countries and celebrated their mutual love of democracy and freedom. Headquartered in Manhattan, France Forever rapidly grew to have 56 chapters in cities across the country, though Rand’s Boston chapter was especially enthusiastic.

Despite having no money, she assembled a small lending library of French books and magazines in an alcove above an office on Newbury Street. After the war ended, France Forever was dissolved, but not before Rand and her fellow officers had received 500 more books from the French Consulate, with the promise of more to come. On Dec. 14, 1945, the French Library was incorporated as a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational institution, with the mission of promoting French culture far and wide.

After Rand’s death in 1956, volunteer Edna Allen Doriot became the library’s driving force and fundraiser. Doriot created an endowment fund and secured the gift of 53 Marlborough St., the library’s current space where it moved in 1961, from philanthropist Katharine Lane Weems. When Doriot died in 1978, her husband, General Georges F. Doriot, professor emeritus of Harvard Business School and an early venture capitalist, took up the mantle and led the library for another decade. Together, the Doriots, who had no children, grew the library’s collection from 500 to more than 40,000 volumes. For their efforts, France awarded them the rare and esteemed titles of Commander and Chevalier of la Légion d’Honneur. Today, their photos hang on the wall of the library’s main room.

L’ART DE VIVRE

If you haven’t experienced the food, the art or the people, you might ask: What is so special about French culture?

“There is pride,” says Bouquegneau. “We are a nation of luminaries, like Lafayette and Diderot, and have a tradition of revolution and a belief in civil rights. That makes our history very current, very relevant.”

There is also a quest for meaningful connections. Americans, Bouquegneau finds, aren’t always comfortable breaking through the barrier of bland politeness. “The French put a special value on family and friendships, and how you nurture them. At a dinner party, for example, you will have lots of different conversation, and it might even get heated, but you are all still friends in the end.” Bouquegneau describes this as the art de vivre—the art of living.

“I live here, and I love the U.S., but here, people check their watch, their phone, they are conscious of when things begin and end, always thinking about what’s next. In France, you can live in suspended time. It’s a very beautiful way to live.”