Resurrecting the muses

Ismail Serageddin, director of the new Alexandria Library, tells Rehab Saad of his plans for the institution
Ismail Serageddin
To capture the spirit of the ancient library of Alexandria and translate it into the context of the 21st century is the challenge facing Ismail Serageddin, general manager of the new library and ex-vice president of the World Bank.
"[The ancient library] celebrated the universality of knowledge, openness to the other, tolerance of diversity and, above all, an appreciation of the rationality of science, logic and the human spirit. It is here, in this very spot, that the ancient scholars of the world gathered to record the best that the human mind had done," he said in an exclusive interview with Al-Ahram Weekly.
The new Alexandria Library, Serageddin said, is not intended to be a repository for every book in the world. "Not even the Library of Congress, with its enormous resources, is in a position to undertake such a role. What we are creating is an institution worthy of the ancient library that at the same time fulfills a function no other institution fulfills."
"Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, who chairs the board of patrons as well as that of trustees, beautifully summarised the four-fold mission of the new library. First, the Alexandria Library should be a window on Egypt for the world and should be a natural entry point for anyone who wants to know something about the ancient library, about Alexandria, or about Egypt. Second, it should be a window for Egypt on to the rest of the world. Our younger generation should be able to come to the library and get an overview of what is going on in the world," Serageddin said.
The third mission, according to Serageddin, involves the creative use of technology. "What does it mean to create a great library and a research centre in the age of the Internet, instantaneous communications and the digital revolution? We need to address that challenge and turn the library into a leading institution dealing with the digitalisation of books and of research, data bases, music, video and of image... The very nature of knowledge and learning has changed in the electronic age and the issue of connectivity, the issue of information technology, has become a central part of the mission of the new library."
Last of the four aims is to turn the Alexandria Library into a centre of intellectual debate. It is to be a focus of dialogue between peoples and civilisations. "It must promote openness to the other, tolerance, diversity, rationality, the dialogue that after all was one of the greatest features of the ancient library," he said.
In pursuit of this aim an ambitious cultural programme is being prepared involving seminars, debates, discussions, lectures, exhibitions, symposia, conferences etc. Initially four broad topics are to be addressed, with science and technology heading the list.
"Now we talk about clinical death, legal death, the right to pull out a plug, organ transplants, surrogate motherhood, cloning, property rights on the Internet, privacy of people on the Internet etc. The more technology advances, the more it raises ethical questions. So we want to bring the best scientists in the world together with leading philosophers, sociologists and political scientists to engage in a dialogue. In that sense we are reviving the tradition of the old library where great scholars would meet in the temple of muses and discuss issues," Serageddin explained.
The opening of the library in October will be marked by an international conference on life sciences at which "four Nobel laureates as well as 20 potential Nobel winners have confirmed their attendance."
Serageddin added that 49 proposals have been received from various countries suggesting ways of marking the opening. Obviously, they cannot all be fitted in to the planned two-hour celebration. "So we propose to have a year-long series of events, starting in October with the international conference of life sciences and ending in September 2002 with a youth conference. In between," says Serageddin, "we will have many lectures, festivals, exhibitions, conferences, debates, ballets etc. And in the middle of all this, on 23 April 2002, the International Book Day, will be the formal opening of the library with many heads of state attending."
The $200 million library incorporates a conference centre, three museums, a planetarium, a school of information sciences, a research centre, a calligraphy institute and a manuscript conservation lab, and occupies 40,000 square metres alongside the University of Alexandria in Shatby, overlooking the Mediterranean close to the site of the ancient library-museum complex.
The design of the new library is based on a circle inclined towards the sea, partly submerged in a pool of water. The inclined roof allows indirect daylight and a clear view of the sea, while the surrounding wall is clad with Aswan granite adorned with a vast array of inscriptions in a multitude of languages and scripts.
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