By Nancy Lynner, AWC Central Scotland
Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books by Susan L. Roth and Karen L. Abouraya, Dial Books for Young Readers, published by The Penguin Group, 2012
As democratic institutions across the globe face existential issues, it’s good to have children’s books with “CAN DO” messages of people taking a stand in support of their views. Hands Around the Library is such a book. With pages full of sharp, colorful collages and simple text, this non-fiction book is for people aged 4 and above.
Remember when Egypt was ruled by Hosni Mubarak for 30 years? In 2011, the people protested (for three weeks) for more freedom. This book tells the specific story of the new, state-of-the-art library in Alexandria, which became one of the main settings for the protests. Some of the protestors became violent, and damage to the library became a possibility. The book shows and tells how those who valued the Alexandria Library built a human chain by holding hands around the circumference of the building, thus protecting it from damage or destruction.
One inner conflict of this story is that some of the people protesting for freedom were so violent that other protestors had to change tactics to protect the building and institution in which they found intellectual freedom—their new library. An adult reader can discuss this with younger listeners.
The last few pages of the book switch from storytelling to reporting. It includes photographs of the protests, of the library, and the city. Additionally, there is a section about the Great Library of Alexandria from 2,500 years ago, information about resources on this topic, and a short glossary of words that were on the protest signs, in Arabic. The script forms of each word are listed, along with the pronounciations. I noticed that “freedom” in Arabic is pronounced “ho-RAY-ah”!” Ho-RAY-ah for this book.
Photos by Nancy Lynner
