LIBRARY OF PEACE

The "Library of Peace" is one of the priority actions of the Fondazione Mediterraneo defined in the Statute since its establishment.
The goal is to promote dialogue and mutual respect in the Euro-Mediterranean region and in the world by promoting the reading of texts in various languages ​​and, in particular, in the Arabic language.
The Fondazione Mediterraneo signed in 2003 a permanent agreement with the “Bibliotecha Alexandrina” and the “Library of Algiers” and collaboration protocols with various international institutions, such as the “Al-Babtain Foundation” for the promotion and dissemination of Arabic poetry.
The headquarters of the "Library of Peace" - named after St. John Paul II - is located on the ground, mezzanine, fourth and fifth floors of the former “Grand Hotel de Londres”, where the Fondazione Mediterraneo with the Museum of Oeace - MAMT is located.
Equipped with about 20,000 volumes in various languages, the "Library of Peace" (BIPA) dedicates a section to children with books for children: from the myth of Giufà and the Thousand and One Nights to fairy tales that find unanimous consent and diffusion in various countries.
The "Library of Peace" is open for free to all on the following days:

  • Monday: from 10 to 13am and from 16 to 18pm.
  • Wednesday: from 10 to 13am and from 16 to 18pm.
  • Friday: from 10 to 13am and from 16 to 18pm.

Library of Peace
Codice ISIL: IT-NA0837
https://anagrafe.iccu.sbn.it/isil/IT-NA0837

The patrimony of the "Library of Peace" essentially consists of donations from international and private entities, institutions. From the Alexandina Library to the Treccani Encyclopedia Institute, from the Alpes-Cote d'Azur, Piedmont and Liguria Regions to the cities of Marseille, Barcelona and Marrakech, from the Kuwait "Al-Babtain" Foundation to many private citizens.

The project of the "Library of Peace" - originally "Library of the Mediterranean" - was born in 1997 in Naples, on the occasion of the "II Euromed Civil Forum" organized by the Fondazione Mediterraneo. In 2003, with the permanent agreements signed and, in particular, the one with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (the then president Suzanne Mubarak attended the inauguration in Naples) the "Library of Peace" found its headquarters - with an initial endowment of 10,000 volumes - in the historic former “Grand Hotel de Londres” in Naples.
On that occasion it was decided to own the Library only at "Pace" and to involve the whole world and not just the Mediterranean area. In 2016 the "Library of Peace" was dedicated to St. Jean-Paul II.

The project was proposed by 2248 participants from 36 countries who commissioned the Fondazione Mediterraneo to create the "Library of Peace and the Mediterranean". The project, approved unanimously (with resolution and number 6 - 6B), found as initial partners the Fondazione Mediterraneo, the National Library of Naples, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt) and the Victor Balaguer Library (Spain).

The partners of the "Library of Peace" are:

  • Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt) 
  • National Library of Naples (Italy) 
  • National Library of Algiers (Italy) 
  • Al-Babtain Foundation (Kuwait)
  • Al-Otaiba Foundation (Morocco-Kuwait)
  • Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Italy) 
  • Salesians of Don Bosco (Italy)