The New Library of Alexandria




The New Library of Alexandria

 


  

When the world lost the original Library of Alexandria it was truly a tragedy since it housed some of the most well-known and earliest manuscripts in the world, in fact some books and works disappeared forever in the fire. When the new Library of Alexandria, or Bibliotheca Alexandrina, opened its doors in 2002 it was if the world could finally recover from that much earlier loss (Egypt tour info, [online], 9/24/2011).

The idea for the library came about in the 1980’s when scholars from the University of Alexandria sketched a plan to recreate the ancient library, both physically and intellectually. In 1990 with the Egyptian government’s approval, a committee gave the nod to the design plan of a Norwegian Architectural firm Snohetta.  Together with an Egyptian team, the designers put together a plan for a building that would represent the libraries aim to be a cultural hub in Egypt, with a conference centre and planetarium on library grounds (globalpost, [online], 9/24/2011).

The New Library of Alexandria is much more that a library. It's ambition is to be:

• The world's window on Egypt.
• Egypt's window on the world.
• A leading institution of the digital age.
• A centre for learning, tolerance, dialogue and understanding.

(Bibliotheca Alexandrina, [online], 9/24/2011).

 Some of the areas that are available in this new library are:

• A library that can hold millions of books
• An Internet Archive
• Six specialized libraries for: Arts, multimedia and audio-visual materials, the visually impared, school children, preschoolers, microforms and rare books and special collectons.

The library also has four museums for:

• Antiquities
• Manuscripts
• Sadat (named after former president Anwar Sadat) and the History of Science Museum.

The library also has a Planetarium and  hosts a number of Institutions such as: Arab Society for Ethics & Science Technology (ASEST), The Centre for Peace and Democracy Studies (CPDS) and The Arab Network for Women in Science and Technology (ANWST) just to name a few (Bibliotheca Alexandrina, [online], 9/24/2011). During Egypt's civil unrest that occurred in February 2011, part of the Egyptian Armies main goal was to protect the cities Historical buildings. 

But when it came to the Library of Alexandria, the demonstrators in the street where the library is situated, linked hands and formed a human chain and surrounded the library.  Not a storne was throne, and not a window was broken during the protests, the protestors who were protecting the library were reported to have said "This is our library, do not touch it"(GPB News, [online], 9/17/2011).

According to a Radio transcript that i found on America's NPR'S news blog, two of it's host's Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne, discuss the reopening of the library after the civil unrest with one of the libraries Directros Mr Serageldin.  Here is some of the transcript:

Mr. ISMAIL SERAGELDIN (Library Director): What happened was pure magic. People from within the demonstrations broke out of the demonstrations and simply linked hands and they said this is our library. Don't touch it.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

People formed a human chain to protect that library. Now, during its long history, the Library of Alexandria has been destroyed several times by vandals and conquerors. But Serageldin said this time was different.

Mr. SERAGELDIN: This revolution in Egypt was a liberal revolution. People who believe in democracy and freedom of expression, in pluralism, in openness. And I'm proud and happy that the Library of Alexandria may have contributed in some small way to supporting the kinds of ideas that have found their expression in the young people who led this revolution. When the history of the Mubarak era is written, I am sure that the Library of Alexandria will be one of the positives.

MONTAGNE, host: Library director, Ismail Serageldin, also pointed that by promoting ideas such as freedom of expression, the Library contributed to the intellectual climate that led to Mubarak's overthrow (The two-way; npr’s news blog, [online], 9/23/2011).

My search strategies for this blog post was to find the most current information available on the new library.  I was unable to find any books that really discussed the new library as they were mainly focussed on the Ancient Library of Alexandria. However,  I found alot of usefull information online from websites that i felt had relevant information on the subject. I especially enjoyed looking at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina website which is the Library of Alexandria's official website.

I found the information it provided current and relevant to the new library.  I also found some important information through a couple of the websites which discusses Egypts civil unrest in February 2011 and the fact that the library meant so much to the demonstrator's and the people of Alexandria, that they risked their lives and protected it from being destroyed. The New library of Alexandria, clearly has had a big impact on the people of Alexandria.

One of its mission statements states that it is to be a centre of learning, tolerance, dialogue and understanding.  With this, along with its vast collections on offer, is it any wonder that the Egyptian society through using this library and educating themselves are slowly becoming more liberal minded and independant thinkers?

References:

Information about the New Library of Alexandria, available from:

http://egypttourinfo.com/new-library-of-alexandria.html

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/egypt/090508/library-alexandria

http://www.bibalex.org/aboutus/mission_en.aspx

Information on the protection of the Library during the Egyptian civil unrest ot 2011, available from: 

http://www.gpb.org/news/2011/02/24/egypts-jewel-of-a-library-reopens-thanks-to-demonstrators

Information about the libraries reopening after the Egyptian demonstrations, available at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=134009161

Travel Alficianardo 2008, 'Library of Alexandria' [image] in Travel Alficianardo's photostream, Flickr, viewed 17th of October 2011,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/travel_aficionado/2880100150/