Thursday, February 11, 2010

My day in Erbil's Zaytun library

I have driven past the library many times but never took the opportunity to actually go inside and discover what was beyond the stunning modern building. Since I finished my exams, and as a stress relief I thought going to the library maybe the ultimate option.

Proudly I walked through the beautiful library but sadly not as many people as I wished were there. With an infrastrcture like this, I am optimistic for the future,
books and reading must become part of the culture, and gradually with a library like this it will. (I am planning to take my little orphan friends to borrow books from the children's section in the next couple of weeks) !!


An outside view of the library
The library is designed as a large modern style blue building. The atmosphere is quiet and graceful in the middle of nature; the study rooms and halls are surrounded by glass and overlook the serene view of Park Sami Abdul-Rahman.The mammoth two floor building consists of two study halls, seminar and conference rooms as well as computer and internet laboratories.


The American corner of the library


Mr. Zahir Abdulla, Director of the library


The film or stage performance hall is an extension to the library which can sit an audience of 350 people at any one time; it is specifically designed for on-stage live performances.

There are also additional sections that reflect on the Korean culture, one area is designed like a museum with the work of the Korean Zaytun military put on display during their time in the region. The American section has videos, movies and books from America to introduce the American culture to the Kurds. I borrowed Hillat Clinton's 'Living History' book and will start looking through it tonight. I must admit there are no resent publications, but it is better than nothing!


The Korean Zaytun section of the library


Books donated to the library recently,

Every seminar room and hall is named after a particular Kurdish personality. The dust has picked up in some of the rooms in the library, and for sure the books are waiting for readers. For now the Zaytun library is still in its primary steps in a journey to being the largest, most beneficial and used library in the Kurdistan region in the near future


The internet and lab room

* All pictures were taken by me for the purpose of this blog only and not for other uses. Please respect this right.

3 comments:

KULKA said...

i copy one pic, but only to keep it for myself - if you dont mind. but i will delete it from my computer if you wish.

Unknown said...

I don't want to be pessimistic, nevertheless I am crazy with reading, you can let me without food and water , bat can't live without reading... once, my friend and me decided to visit Zaitun library, just to check out the performance of employees there and how they manage this place, I asked to walk beyond bureaus and shelves, they did not allow me to do so, one of them said that i have to read the name of the book and they will bring it to me, in thus case;
1- if I ask more than twice for more than a couple of books s/he will gets angry,
2- its not a professional work to search for a book on the list of books,
3- its true that the library is in a quiet place, but its so far and not easy for some one who lives at the other side of the city to come once a week.
Regards

Anonymous said...

Hello!

I'm Korean. I worked Zaytun library.

I'm wondering about current situation of Zaytun library.

is it good? or does it need to help something for library?

Please, check my questions, thank you..