The Destruction of a Public Library is a Blow Felt by All

On behalf of Thomas W. Galante, CEO, Queens Library:

"Let's show the world that America's libraries have a heart and can unite to help the Egyptian people rebuild their public libraries. Two public libraries in Cairo, Egypt were senselessly destroyed this February by vandals who stole and burned the contents and left the two libraries in ruins. Queens Library has a formal partnership with the Integrated Care Society which operates the network of public libraries in Cairo. We are issuing a rallying cry to libraries and library lovers
globally to help our Egyptian friends rebuild and reopen as soon as possible. Together, the millions of people who support libraries worldwide can help reopen the doors to the information and opportunities that libraries provide to the people of Cairo.

Please do all you can do to promote this effort [for donations].

The destruction of a public library is a blow felt by all - promoting this link on library home pages worldwide can make a difference by providing an opportunity for the people in our cities, towns, and villages to help. Please forward this to your colleagues and library lovers everywhere.

Thank you. Tom

Alexandria’s new library shelving scholarship for profit, say critics

From the Guardian Article:

The $220m Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened seven years ago in Alexandria, Egypt. It was meant to be the library that recaptured the ancient glories of Alexandria, providing a new home for the world’s knowledge almost 2,000 years after its predecessor was burnt to the ground.

But whereas the old Egyptian library offered a rich diet of philosophy and history to the greatest thinkers of its age including Euclid, Archimedes, and Herophilus, the modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina is coming in for harsh criticism for serving up a very different kind of fare.

A row has erupted over the decision to build a food court at the heart of Egypt’s self-proclaimed “window on the world”, with campaigners accusing the Bibliotheca’s trustees of selling out the library’s venerable legacy for short-term profit.