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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 August 2000 Issue No. 495 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 August 2000 Issue No. 495
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters House of tomes
Dar Al-Kotob (the National Library), for so long a cornerstone on which the edifice of Egyptian culture has been built, is not an integral part of the new generation's cultural life because for many years it has been neglected, left to fall into a sad state of disrepair. Yet in my day, it was the centre of all intellectual endeavour -- through prep and secondary school and into my college years, I would rely on the simple system of borrowing to read -- on heritage, literature, art, history, politics, philosphy and science. It was reading these priceless classics that formed my concept of the novel.
A number of important authors worked there, including Hafiz Ibrahim and Tawfiq El-Hakim. To head the institution was regarded as the greatest honour. On a lighter note, it is worth adding that Ibrahim preferred having a humorous conference with one or more of his friends at the cafe opposite the Dar to sitting and reading inside it.
I was, therefore, greatly heartened to find out about plans to introduce an electronic classification system and develop the Dar once more -- this, maybe, will be the beginning of the rebirth that is needed to bring the once central institution back in to people's lives.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
