We were lucky to catch up with Melissa Baril recently and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Starting a New Chapter: Bringing French Books to Detroit

In 2016, after 15 years in the Paris area, my family and I moved to Detroit. As a Canadian, I was quite excited about this new chapter in our lives. It felt like a fresh start with more possibilities to develop new projects.
While I wasn’t concerned about my kids learning English and immersing themselves in their new environment, I worried about how they would stay connected to their native language and two cultures. Where was I going to find books in French for them? This proved to be quite a challenge. However, I soon realized I wasn’t alone in this situation.
When you struggle to find resources to connect your children and your students to the French language and the French-speaking world, it can quickly be time-consuming and discouraging.
Determined to bring a solution myself, I decided to create something special. That’s how Caribou à lunettes was born.
I started by opening my own boxes of books in my living room. Each month, more and more families came to borrow children’s books. I got organized and started a private youth library. With my background in communication and publishing, I knew there was so much more to create around language and literature. It was just the beginning.
If it was worth it for my own children, it was gold for others as well.

Quick Facts
• There are about 11 million Francophones in the USA, including families from French-Canadian descent, teachers of French and learners.
• There are 10 million Francophones in Canada, 33 million in the Americas, and 350 million around the world.
• The city with the largest number of Francophones is Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Melissa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Living in France, I became aware of my identity as a Francophone—I spoke French, but wasn’t French—and the significance it held for me. I experienced linguistic insecurity in a hard way. That’s how I recognized the importance of promoting and teaching the language with its variations and associated cultures—plural. With a love for books and a background in publishing, launching Caribou à lunettes seemed like a natural step.
I am a cultural mediator. I believe in focusing on our local communities and resources first. I create connections between people and culture, and I find solutions to their needs for francophone resources.
Besides the lending library in the Detroit area, I propose a variety of services.
• Story Times & Workshops: I organize story times, literary and creative workshops, and invite authors and illustrators to classrooms. This approach shows that learning a language is more than just grammar; it’s about fun activities and sharing with others.
• Literary Tastings & Consultations: I meet with teachers to conduct literary tastings and discuss how to use authentic books in their classrooms.
• Curated Selections: I curate book selections for libraries and bookshops to match their needs and budgets.
• Book Sales: I sell books to ensure that once you discover great stories, you can easily access them. Making books accessible is a key part of my mission.

I want the young learners to see that the French language as an asset, valuable in the USA, dynamic, and diverse. I want them to see a representative world beyond the Eiffel Tower and to develop their own ties to the French-speaking world.
I aim for my clients, whether they are parents, grandparents, teachers, educators, librarians or booksellers, to feel supported in their search, amazed by all the resources available and relieved that I make the whole process easy.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My market is niche. Nurturing relationships and creating connections with people are key. On the one hand, I am in direct contact with families, teachers, librarians, and booksellers. On the other hand, I am also in direct contact with publishers, authors, and illustrators. Therefore, I am familiar with their catalogs and can connect the right book with the right reader or learner. What makes a difference is that I offer access to more than just books: I guide people, listen to their needs, and connect them with other resources. The books I curate offer a wider variety of titles than what people are used to. They are diverse and inclusive, more representative of our world, without compromising on quality.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

They say, “Trust the journey.” It’s certainly hard at times. To me, it means being flexible and open. What happens may not be part of your plan, but it may bring another opportunity.
When I moved to France, I discovered a completely different working world. I spoke French, but it was a different kind of French. I was a high-flyer in Canada but underestimated in France as an immigrant. It was a cultural shock. I am still working on understanding the nuances and regaining my confidence.
I learned that sometimes you can’t fight a system. You have to move along, keeping your core values in mind. With Caribou, I am navigating the different target audiences, working with people willing to move in the same direction, instead of wasting energy trying to convince a group of people who are not ready or open to the diverse literature I offer. It is often when I remain positive amidst the challenges that something good happens. You need resilience and a lot of perseverance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cariboualunettes.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caribou_lunettes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cariboualunettes
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-baril-caribou/
• Other: https://bsky.app/profile/cariboualunettes.bsky.social