Alexandria, Egypt, was a world center of knowledge and learning in the third century BCE, when its ancient library gathered scrolls and scholars from around the world. Now the Bibliotheca Alexandria (BA) in the 21st century is dedicated to recapturing the spirit of openness and scholarship of the original library. The Baltimore Luxor Alexandria Sister City Committee (BLASCC) will be celebrating the ancient and new Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) this summer. BLASCC is hosting Heba El-Rafey, Director of Public Relations and International Communications at the BA, for a week-long visit to Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Ms. El-Rafey has a busy schedule of presentations on “The Ancient Alexandria Library Anew for the 21st Century,” starting appropriately enough on Tuesday, July 23, 10:30am at the new U.S. Diplomacy Center, whose executive director is former Sister Cities International CEO Mary Kane. This presentation is co-hosted by the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW)
On Wednesday, July 24, Ms. El-Rafey will be speaking at noon at the Library of Congress and meeting with Library staff on various collaborative projects. At 5:00 pm that same day, she will be presenting at the George Washington University Museum under the auspices of BLASCC and the American Research Center in Egypt.
On Thursday, July 25, she will spend the afternoon in Baltimore, speaking at 6:30 pm at the Enoch Pratt Free Library downtown, followed by a short walk to the Walters Art Museum for a guided tour of the museum’s acclaimed Egyptian collection.
All events are free and open to the public; some require an RSVP. Details are online here.