The French section of the Faculty Library is likely to provide undergraduates with most of the books they need for their studies in Part IA, Part IB and Part II. The total holdings in French are around 12,000 volumes, and multiple copies of the most frequently used books are bought where possible. However, suggestions for new books are always welcomed, and should be made to Mrs Hélène Fernandes (hk225@cam.ac.uk), the MMLL Teaching and Learning Support Librarian, or to any of the Library staff. Undergraduates are represented on the Library Committee, which meets once a term to consider issues relating to the Library. The Library also houses a number of computers and an increasing stock of French films on DVD and Blu-ray.
The University Library is one of the five copyright libraries in the U.K., and provides excellent facilities for French studies. Most books relating to French literature are located on North Wing 5. Finding books can take a little time, until you become used to the system. Within the stacks, books are arranged according to one of four sizes (a, b, c, d) as well as to subject, and bound periodicals are separated from other books.
The Language Centre, in Downing Place, provides access to satellite TV, as well as a very wide range of other material in French: grammatical courses, including Computer-Aided Language Learning material; pronunciation exercises; general listening and viewing material, etc. Recordings are made each evening from French TV for private viewing throughout the week. There are also copies of French films.
French Film Collection
There is a collection of some 500 French films on DVD and Blu-ray available for borrowing by all staff and students in the department.
The catalogue of the collection is available for consultation online.
- Catalogue of films (128K PDF)
- Download the catalogue in Word format (76K DOC)
You will need a username and password to view the catalogue; please contact Esther Palmer for this information.
