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The library of the Culture Palace in Douma was destroyed by terrorists and is being restored by the arms of its loyal sons

2021-06-25T05:08:33.817Z


Rural Damascus - SANA From here, the Mongols of the era passed, thus witnessing the shelves of the Culture Palace library in Douma, which contained ten


Damascus countryside-SANA

From here, the Mongols of the era passed, thus witnessing the shelves of the library of the Palace of Culture in the city of Douma, which contained tens of thousands of titles in various sciences, in which terrorism spread theft, ripping apart and burning, and it is thought that it is destroying civilization in this country as did its Tatar predecessors centuries ago.

Today, with the zeal of its loyal children, this library is recovering little by little until it returns as it was a source of knowledge for students and researchers who flocked to it from all over the city for more than half a century.

Regarding the state of the Library of the Culture Palace in Douma in the past period, the librarian, Zainab Haidar, said in a statement to SANA Cultural, “I have worked in this place since 1999, and the library contained 26,000 books by Syrian, Arab and foreign authors in scientific, literary, religious and artistic disciplines, in addition to 7,000 titles in The children’s library and a reading room that can accommodate one hundred readers at the same time, to find that when we returned after the liberation of the city in 2018, it turned into ruins and rubble.”

Haidar added, “The library’s condition was catastrophic by all standards, from chaos, destruction, theft and destruction of thousands of publications. We found that it needed an emergency plan that needed to be implemented by a working team. At the request of the head of the center, a volunteer team was formed, bearing the name of the Duma Youth Cultural Team, which included 10 young men and women who worked with us and under our supervision on cleaning work. Removing the rubble and filling, and sorting the remaining publications that were contained in the library from the contents of the Repository of the Directorate of Culture of Damascus Countryside, which was distributing books to about 130 centers scattered in the province.”

According to Haidar, the work team worked to sort the remaining publications by topics and by general number, and to determine the estimated losses of about 30% of the library’s contents, especially religious books, which were completely looted as they contained the mothers of books and references and were home to students of the faculties of religious sciences and Sharia, and the children’s library was completely looted .

Haidar expresses her hope that the library will return to what it was before the war, especially since it contained books that were not found in the largest Syrian public libraries, noting that the civil society in the city of Douma played a key role in rehabilitating this cultural edifice to occupy its position in the process of reconstruction and reconstruction.

Rima Ataya, head of the Palace of Culture in Douma, said in turn, “When we entered the building, it was almost destroyed in all its sections, including the headquarters of the Directorate of Culture. The city is working on renovations and reopening the reading hall.”

The restoration work also includes, according to the President of the Palace of Culture, rehabilitating the building wall, closing the tunnels dug by terrorists, especially in the theater and the amphitheater, removing the resulting debris, reviewing the Engineers Syndicate for this purpose, rehabilitating other rooms to implement a series of lectures, seminars and technical courses, and painting the street opposite the building and decorating it with expressive drawings and preparing The field for the return of the Directorate of Culture to the city.

Ataya reveals the intention to launch a special choir at the Palace of Culture that carries the message of the Syrian heritage, especially the Damascus countryside, due to its diversity and heritage.

On the role of local administration institutions in rehabilitating the Palace of Culture to take its active role, Ayman al-Sayed, a member of the Damascus Provincial Council, stressed that culture is a basic need, not a luxury. Therefore, emergency steps were taken that would be a prelude to a larger project in the near future, such as the rehabilitation of the exhibition hall and the lecture hall, with the aim of attracting A larger public presence and bringing numbers of the city's residents to keep pace with the cultural activity and create an interaction that would allow the Palace of Culture to return to what it was before the war on our homeland.

It is noteworthy that the cultural center in the city of Douma was established in 1967 and included a small theater hall, a library and a training center for popular culture. It was expanded in 2000 to include a theater containing 700 fixed chairs, equipped with sound, lighting, heating and air-conditioning equipment, with rooms for the scenes, an Internet lounge, reception and training halls belonging to the Institute of Folk Culture with headquarters Directorate of Culture.

Samer Alshghari

Source: sena

All news articles on 2021-06-25

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