Libya welcomes banned books [View All]

[tabatha]

Libya marked the end of the Gadhafi-era blacklist Monday with a ceremonial unbanning of books in the former regime’s most storied public library.

Many of Libya’s emerging political hopefuls joined militia leaders and returning expat exiles at the Italianate Royal Palace for a sunset event that was equal parts a celebration of free thought and bitter lament for its cost.
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“Here in this historic place, knowledge was banned. The previous regime called it a national library, but it was more like an indoctrination centre to control our thinking,” said Dr. Salah Abdallah Rajeb al-Aghab, a senior official with the Libyan government archeology section."

The palace ground floor, meanwhile, was lined with books as well — hundreds of new titles spanning the fields of math, science, faith, philosophy and politics, including an Arabic translation of Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father and works by anti-religionist Richard Dawkins.

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