There is nothing in France that does not have rules of etiquette attached. For example, never go into a cafe, belly up to the bar and wave to, or worse, bellow at, the server. One is expected to take a stool or stand and wait to be acknowledged. Then and only then do you ask for what you would like, and you had better have preceded that with “bonjour” or “bon soir” or you will be waiting a long time for your coffee or drink. A good friend and I met for a drink at my cafe one hot July night. The server was washing glasses behind the bar. She did not wait for him to make eye contact and acknowledge her. She leaned over the bar and said, “I’ll have a white wine.” If you could have seen the look he gave me, who he knew as a regular, for somehow allowing this to happen. Yikes! I greeted him formally, apologized and said my friend would like a white wine. We were served somewhat stiffly, but I left a big tip and he was back to his normal self the next day when I went in on my own.

So, yes, the libraries have etiquette. One takes one seat, hangs one’s coat on the back of the seat and does not allow one’s stuff to stray into the territory of another seat. This applies no matter how crowded or not the library is. I am in the Pompidou now. It has very long tables that hold 22 places each. The library is as empty as I have ever seen it, may three or four people at each of the over a hundred tables on this floor. No one has spread their stuff out. People have drinks, but they must have twist-off caps, no open sodas. There is no eating at the tables. None. Note even a candy bar. Everyone is silent.

Occasionally, during the holidays when students are cramming for their baccalaureate exams (which determine which colleges they will qualify for, and which seems to involve the use of an arsenal of different colored highlighters, pens and pencils that all get packed into chic little leather zippered cases at the end of the day), students will huddle in small groups and speak in urgent whispers, but only for a few minutes. If you want a snack or need to use the rest room or step out on the smoking deck, at this library, you take your computer and phone with you, but you can leave everything else to save your spot.

At the library in City Hall, there are only 100 seats, and they are 100+ year old chairs at equally antique, leather-topped wooden tables, each place marked with a gold-embossed number. If all the seats are taken, you can wait outside, four floors down, for someone to leave. You may have bottled water, but the water is to stay on the floor to prevent damage to the tables. You used to be able to bring a sandwich with you and step into the vestibule to eat it, but now there is a discreet sign at the reception desk explaining that due to an infestation of mice, this is no longer allowed. You may leave for lunch and leave everything at your place because it takes a photo ID, a pass issued by City Hall security, and a reading of your bar-coded Paris library card to get in. And, the entire space is staffed full time by a rotating cast of librarians who sit at two elevated stations. Electrical outlets at this library are scarce, so people share. There is one table of ten that is reserved exclusively for City Hall employees. You may not sit there, even if the table is empty, which it often is. if you are found wandering anywhere else in City Hall, which is not a public building, your library card will be confiscated.

I have also been to the St Genevieve library at the Sorbonne, where I had to apply for and be issued a special ID I got by showing my California bar card. This library is several hundred years old and used every day by hordes of university students. Non-students are charged ten euros a day and the wi-fi is terrible, so I almost never go there. The Mazarine is a national library where many of the France’s most valuable original documents are kept. Anyone can go in there with just an ID. It is an amazing place, where white-gloved researchers pore over ancient books and files. It is also a place that has a bunch of regulars, generally old guys who pay 75 euros a year to be guaranteed a seat. I have been there a few times, but it isn’t very comfortable.

The Pompidou is what every major city should have. It holds thousands of people and offers all sorts of programs and amenities people really use, and they are all free. There is a section of one floor that has every newspaper and magazine you can think of. There are comfy chairs for people who want to watch videos; half a floor of stuff for kids; and, a huge language lab where you can study any language you want, staffed with people who will help you figure out at what level you need to start. There are also conversational French classes for non-native speakers. Unfortunately, the strike has made these unavailable.

Nobody at any of these libraries ever has to be told to be quiet or to take their feet off the furniture. French children seem to be born knowing how to behave in libraries — parks and the metro, too.

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And from the pension strikes: The Louvre closed as workers went on strike to protest pension reforms.

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