View of the Fiction and Biographies room at The English Library - Vevey
We caught up with Sue Spelling and Chairwoman Andrea Hottinger from The English library - Vevey. With the Swiss Biblioweekend this March, we wanted to find out more behind the scene at this library that will be celebrating their 140th anniverary next year. It was founded in 1886 and has been serving the English-speaking community of the Riviera ever since.
About The English Library - Vevey
The English Library - Vevey is a non-profit organisation which uses the annual subscriptions of its members for the purchase of books and operating costs. The library is run by a volunteer committee and volunteer librarians.
We use a local bookshop for our new books, which helps their business too. Every month around 20 new recently-published titles are added to our selection.
Sue explains, "When I arrived in Vevey in 1993, for my husband's work, I had no work permit and 2 young children. I have always loved reading so it was logical to get involved. It was great being able to borrow the recent releases in English and to take my children to a real library and for them to discover books.
"My first job was helping to catologue the books on to a computer so that the library could become computerised. After that I became a librarian and for several years I was part of the book selection committee. Now I look after the Junior Library and help with the English conversation group which meets on a Friday."
View of the Children's room at The English Library - Vevey
The library has been in their current premises for almost 30 years; as the building is going to be renovated, they will be moving to a new location in 2026. We haven't yet found the ideal place but would love to hear if anyone can think of a suitable place to continue our organisation so we can keep providing interesting books in English to our members.
What are you reading at the moment?
Sue: At the moment I am reading “Orbital" a novel by Samantha Harvey which really gives an idea of what it's like to be an astronaut on the ISS. The last book I read was Kate Atkinson’s latest Jackson Brodie story “Death at the sign of the rook”.
Andrea: I have just read a surprising history of the siege of Leningrad in WW2 and the heroic efforts of a group of botanists and scientists to save the most important seed bank of the time. “The forbidden garden of Leningrad” by Simon Parkin.
Biblioweekend
28-30 March 2025
14h-17h
In order to become better known in the area we are taking part in the Swiss Biblioweekend: The theme this year will be “Words connect Worlds”. Please come to check out the books, become a member, meet the team, sign up to volunteer, enjoy tea and biscuits, games, quizzes and other surprises!
The English Library - Vevey
Passage St. Antoine 7
1800 Vevey
021 922 05 24
www.englishlibrary-vevey.com
contact@englishlibrary-vevey.com
Membership
The cost to join for a year is CHF 90.- for an individual and CHF 130.- for a family.
Check out our upcoming article about The Library in English Geneva soon. We will put a link here when it is published.
