Presentation

The Alliance Française library is the only place in Shanghai where you can read French newspapers and magazines, and browse through French books for free.

The library has three branches:

The main library (Hongkou Centre)，on Wusong road, by the Bund
The Little Prince library for children (Changning Centre) on Wuyi Road, near Zhongshan Park.
The Songjiang Centre library
(Location details and maps are on the CONTACT US page.)

Both French and Chinese books are available at the library. Students and non-students, Francophone residents of Shanghai, lovers of French literature and curious readers…. the library is open to all. Registration is required in order to borrow books.

Our Collections

We regularly add to our stock of documents in order to offer the most recent materials on France and China today, in both French and Chinese. There are currently over 8000 books in French available at our library, the most important French newspapers and magazines (Le Monde hebdomadaire, L’Express, Le Point, Courrier International, Première, Les Inrockuptibles, Paris Match, Elle, Marie-Claire, Géo, Pour la Science… ), over 600 DVDs including a collection of recent French films, more than 600 CDs…

Check our full catalogue !

Activities

Our Hongkou branch regularly hosts conferences, readings or literary meetings.
We also offer readings, storytelling and other activities for children at The Little Prince library (including “the Baby Readers”, 1 weekly workshop for toddlers (9-36 months) around pop-up books, songs and lullabies, crafts, and every third Saturday of the month: "The Hour of the Little Prince" an afternoon of stories in French). Please check our NEW AT THE LIBRARY page.

The Little Prince Children's Library

Since 2007, there is now a French children's library in Shanghai !

Named after the famous Little Prince character created by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, with the gracious authorization of the Succession Antoine de Saint Exupery, this library has been specially designed to welcome children under 12 years old.

Over 1000 titles are available, over half of which are specially for children: books and audio-books stories, comic books, music CDs and animated films.
We also have a collection of documents for adults: magazines and novels in French, books on China, French textbooks and 2 computers.

Children and adults alike are welcome to come play or read in our comfy, cozy and colourful cushions. A "Little Brown Bear" reading corner for children, created with the help of Bayard Milan publishers, is specially reserved for children under 7.

The Songjiang Centre library

Please check our website:sj.afshanghai.org