From the moment I saw the admission price for the library I started to get a good feeling about the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
This is unusual. I just about had a coronary when I discovered there was an admission charge for the Bodleian Library at Oxford University. In that instance I actually decided to skip the experience, piqued by the fact that that library became great on the back of massive bequests and libertarian writers who believed gifting their original manuscripts to the library meant safeguarding free access to their important historical works.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is different. It is inspired by history, by the memory of one of the ancient wonders of the world, the Library of Alexandria, which tragically was gutted by fire. It has even been built close to the original site but it is most definitely not a building of the past. It is a building, or rather an institution, of the future – and this is what makes it so exciting.
Admittedly, I am bookish, so I made a conscious effort to ask other people, both Egyptian and tourist, what they too thought of the library. The response has overwhelmingly been the same enthusiasm I felt. One London pharmacist on a week holiday went so far as to say he found it much more exciting than the British Museum.
The first thing that made me smile on my visit to the Bibliotheca was the enormous admission price differential between Egyptian and non-Egyptian residents. The library aims to be a great world institution just like its ancient forbearer, but 75 per cent of the cost is being borne by the tax-payers of a developing nation – some of them desperately poor.
As a world citizen I am more than happy to let my tourist currency contribute something to this grand undertaking. And, if overseas visitors to the library help in some small way to keep the yearly membership cost to Egyptian students at 30 EGP, the equivalent of (US) $5, including free internet access to everything but emails – well, even better. Money well spent on every level.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina begins to impress the moment you step into the plaza with the still maturing trees, young minds milling about and announcements of the latest events, discussions and conferences mostly on hot topics of debate. Sitting on Alexandria’s seafront and part of a complex with a planetarium, theatre and conference centre, the rounded library itself rises up out of the ground and a still pool. It’s meant to represent the sun coming out of the sea, a counter-reflection on the fact that at Alexandria you can watch the sun set in the sea.
There is a massive granite wall mural surrounding the library made up of characters from 120 languages, both living and dead. I am told by the free library guide (probably the only free guides in Egypt that do not later turn around and demand a ‘baksheesh’ payment) that the characters do not actually write words but instead their random interspersion represent the “unity of humanity”. The library itself has three official languages, Arabic, English and French, although you can find books in other languages too.
The guide also explains the mystery of the strange and not necessarily appealing slits cut into the side of the domed façade. Inside, the grand 10-level 2,000-seat reading room is flooded with natural light – even the four levels that are below sea-level – but thanks to the strange design at no point does any of the hot Egyptian sunlight directly touch the books.
Just like its ancient counterpart, which among other things included a zoo, today’s incarnation is more than a library. There are permanent museum displays focusing mainly on Egyptian culture and history, and extensive art displays, some permanent and others part of a changing gallery that are included in the general admission price. The main library also houses the ‘espresso’ book press, one of only two printing presses in the world which will allow you to print a book as fast as it takes most baristas to make an espresso (the other ‘espresso’ book press is at the World Bank in Washington).
Separate tickets are needed for the very good antiquities and manuscript museum. The latter of which, the guide tells us, the library trustees hope will one day hold the single surviving papyrus from the ancient library of Alexandria, now in a Viennese museum.
As befits an institution striving for greatness in our internet age, the guide spends some time elaborating on the library’s enormous digital venture – namely to reference every single internet page that has ever existed so that even if a page has been removed or expired a copy will be available through a search of www.bibalex.org.
However, ultimately, as much as I’m intellectually impressed by the online research attached to the library (and plan to take advantage of it) it is the vibe of the physical space that inspires me most. I spend most of my time in the library in an exhibition of photos taken during the 25 January revolution. Through the photos I learn things I didn’t know but most of all it’s an incredibly moving display made more so by the lack of caption information – or indeed any introduction text. I find this eminently appropriate and a rare and well-judged example of academic restraint. After all the revolution is still playing itself out – the future hasn’t been written yet.
While Egypt’s future is uncertain the Alexandrina Bibliotheca certainly has a place in capturing and contributing to the pulse of the moment.
Prices: General; Egyptians 4EGP, Non Egyptians 10EGP, student, retiree and pupil discounts apply. Antiquities Museum; Egyptians 4 EGP, Non Egyptians 20 EGP, student discounts apply. Manuscript Museum; same prices as Antiquities Museum.
