I’m an avid book reader so I need books to be apart of my daily life. When I moved to Paris I looked into joining the American Library but I couldn’t justify the $160 price tag. I lived in the Marais in the beginning and didn’t realize the 69 bus was an option. Then I lived in other parts of Paris and I just didn’t go to that part of Paris often enough. And I say getting to it is a pain because it’s in that awful part of Paris between Iéna and École Militaire where there is no metro. 

I lived 3 blocks from it at one point and even then I hated walking to it. Unless you live on bus 92 or don’t mind taking one of the other many buses to the Eiffel, walking to the area just isn’t conducive for trucking home books. And that’s assuming the buses are running because at least once a year something knocks the system down (World Cup, transport strikes, protests). 

It’s also quite small. I used to go there every Thursday and always wondered where the bulk of the books were because it’s mostly dominated by a large checkout area and a reading room in the middle. But if you are a parent the activities they offer might be worth the price tag (children pay a cheaper rate). Toddler Time is their kid’s reading half hour and it might be worth it if you want your child to meet other English speaking children. 

The annual membership fees can be found on their site so give it a look. They’ve lowered the price and changed the lengths you can purchase. I’ve met a few people who like me were really hard up for English books and it’s certainly cheaper than buying each book off of Amazon or worse at WH Smith. 

However if you don’t mind the selection, as I mentioned in another post Passy Plaza is always a good spot to find something in English, for free.