A librarian for public reading and the National Children's Book Centre, she spent time in the United States where she worked in special effects at the Boston Opera. There she became acquainted with the world of artists' books. Upon her return to France, Elisabeth Lortic founded the association Trois Ourses with two fellow librarians: Odile Belkeddar and Annie Mirabel. For 30 years, their association, which they called Les Trois Ourses (The Three Bears) created a dialogue between art, books and children through their actions in libraries, schools and kindergartens. Their adventure began with the desire to showcase the process of creating artistic books, whether by emerging artists or forgotten works from the previous century.