{"id":3697,"date":"2011-02-09T17:26:32","date_gmt":"2011-02-09T13:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=3697"},"modified":"2011-02-26T15:25:47","modified_gmt":"2011-02-26T11:25:47","slug":"new-alexandria-library-needs-to-become-more-accessible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-society\/new-alexandria-library-needs-to-become-more-accessible\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexandria Library Needs to Be More Accessible"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Wall Street Journal<\/em>\u2018s Michael Z. Wise comments today<\/a> that the Alexandria Library\u2014or Biblioteca Alexandrina<\/a>\u2014has become a symbol of the \u201cNew Egypt.\u201d Indeed, we have seen protesters linking arms and taking shifts to protect the Biblioteca in a beautiful show of support for a nation\u2019s cultural institutions.\u00a0 Not one window has been touched, according to director Ismail Serageldin. Not one book has been harmed.<\/p>\n

This is the near-term fate of the massive, sea-side cultural project: It is safe and tidy and locked up.<\/p>\n

Good enough. But if the Biblioteca Alexandrina is truly to participate in a new, freer, more just Egypt, then at some point it will need to crack open its doors a little wider.<\/p>\n

During a trip to Alex a couple years back, my husband and I tried to bring our two sons to the great new library. After all, libraries in Cairo are few and far between: This was an opportunity for us to roam some real stacks. When we walked up, the space outside the Biblioteca buildings was promising, thronging with people.<\/p>\n

However, to get indoors, one needed to acquire a ticket and pass a security gauntlet. Memberships were available, but\u2014at least at the time\u2014few people outdoors seemed to be members. Egyptians and residents were charged 4LE to access some of the buildings (2LE for students, 1LE schoolchildren). Children under six were not allowed in. I lied about my son\u2019s age.<\/p>\n

When my elder son and I finally made it into the lovely, enormous children\u2019s library\u2014my husband was left out in the food court with our younger son, who couldn\u2019t pass for six\u2014we were the only visitors. Eventually, one other girl arrived, and she encouraged my son as he put on a puppet show in a large, empty puppet-theater space.<\/p>\n

All in all, the children\u2019s Biblioteca felt less like a public institution and more like an exceptionally pretty museum display. Indeed, it felt less accessible than many of Egypt\u2019s museums.<\/p>\n

We have not tried to go back; perhaps the space has become more welcoming to the public in the intervening years. Certainly, the Biblioteca has great possibility, and director Ismail Serageldin\u2019s statement in support of the protesters<\/a> is heartening.\u00a0 But I would not yet call the library a symbol of \u201cNew Egypt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

M. LYNX-QUALEY: Hailed as a symbol of ‘New Egypt’ the Alexandria Library has a way to go before it wins the hearts of Egyptians. It could start with the young.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":3702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,5],"tags":[378,18300,18291],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}