“Come and take choice of all my library, And so beguile thy sorrow," (Titus Andronicus) As so often, there is an apt quotation from William Shakespeare, the most famous playwright and poet in the English language, for every occasion. But a library beguiles not only in a time of sorrow but also one of joy and at all conceivable times. Last year my Gazette colleague Hugh Nicol introduced me to a lending library in Cairo, of which he has been a member since 1995. I value it, not only to borrow and browse books, but also as an attractive and pleasant place to visit. The library is one of the many services and activities of All Saints Cathedral, Zamalek, for the Christian and Muslim community in Cairo, where Hugh works as a volunteer in the Cathedral's Refuge Egypt section. We went there together recently to talk to long-serving library volunteer Helen Belal. She told us that the library had been founded more than 30 years ago in the old Cathedral, which was located beside the Nile on the site that is now the start of the 6th October Bridge. The then librarian Laura Dickinson OBE was the "faithful librarian for over 20 years". Born in 1907 she came in the 1920s as a teenager with her parents to Egypt, where she lived all her life, dying at the age of 95 in 2002. Helen is a Californian, while other members of the present group of library volunteers also come from the United States as well as Britain, Australia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and more would be welcome. We asked Helen what they look for in volunteers. "They should speak English and have basic clerical skills," she explained. Helen is the longest-serving volunteer and has been coming to the library since the 1980s. She formerly came once a week but when Laura died, "I took over the running of the library and am a member of the Library Committee. The library was an outreach project of the English-speaking members of the congregation." All the books are in English and there are over 8,000 fiction and non-fiction titles, many of them fiction, with Egypt and the Middle East region as key players. The library is open to all, adults and children, although an adult should accompany young children. It is light and airy, with comfortable reading areas, overlooking the Cathedral grounds on one side and a leafy street on the other. Because acquisitions are donated as well as bought, Hugh remarked, "It's an interesting mix, with some real gems, you never know what you'll find." There are a few old editions, such as the classic works Wandering in Arabia (1908) by Charles M. Doughty, The Journal of Major-General C. G. Gordon of Khartoum (1885) and Revolt in the Desert by T.E. Lawrence, rubbing shoulders with contemporary commentators like Robert Fisk and Ahdaf Soueif. There is a charming section for children with child-sized tables and low chairs and a wide section of fiction and non-fiction books ranging from board books for toddlers through British and American classics to Harry Potter. But young users are lower in numbers than they were and Helen commented, "We would welcome more children but they have so many other things to do." The very modest annual library membership fees of LE15 for two books and LE30 for up to six books are due to increase later this year. They are loaned for one month and for a longer period when the library annually closes in August. Members using the library during our visit included Waguida el-Bakry, who had come with her friend Cleopatra André, both long-standing patrons. She observed: "This library is so welcoming. It's an important part of my life". She also pointed out how reasonable the annual membership fee is, much lower than the cost of buying just one new book in English. The library hours are: Sun 11:45am ��" 1pm, Mon 10am ��" 12 noon and 5 ��" 6:30pm, Tues, Weds and Thurs 10am ��" 12 noon, Fri closed, Sat 10am ��" 12 noon. Closed on public holidays as well as throughout August. All Saints Cathedral is located in Zamalek in Michel Lotfallah Street, behind the Marriott Hotel. Telephone: 02 2736 8391.
