AL JAZEERA (12/10/2018)
On Friday evenings in Mitte, Berlin’s central district, the sound of an oud travels up from the public library’s ground floor.
The Middle Eastern string instrument is being played in a room in Stadtbibliothek, Berlin’s municipal library, where Baynatna has found a home.
It is the first Arabic-language public library in the German city.
An Egyptian couple browses bookcases filled with Arabic novels, poetry and non-fiction. A small group of young Syrians and Palestinians chat in low voices over coffee. Others work on laptops.
“It’s a place for everyone,” says Muhannad Qaiconie, one of the library’s founders.
Baynatna, which means “between us” in Arabic, is entirely run by volunteers. There are often music performances and poetry readings.
A former student of literature and translation, Qaiconie had his own library in Aleppo, Syria, but was forced to leave his books behind when he fled the war-torn city in 2013.
“We lost our homes and our country,” Qaiconie tells Al Jazeera, “but we also lost our books which used to be an important part of the lives of many people” (…)
Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/lost-homes-country-lost-books-181011213138019.html