October 30
Hello everyone!
El Salvador has changed a lot, even since I arrived in 2022. One of the more eye-catching changes has arrived in the old center, known as Centro Historico.
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| BINAES - the National Library |
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| A clever sign in BINAES |
This is BINAES. National Library (BI) (NA) of El Salvador (ES). It is the country's fancy new library. It also looks spectacularly out of place compared to the other buildings around the old city's Captain Gerardo Barrios Plaza.
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| The National Palace is on the left and the Cathedral is straight ahead |
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| This panorama shows the contrast between the old and new |
There was a library here before, quite an old one, in fact. This had been demolished in 2021 to make way for the 21st Century structure, so on my first visit to Centro Historico at the end of 2022 , it looked like this…
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| A picture from the construction phase in 2022 |
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It is only about 12 km from my house to the library,
but that is over an hour in rush hour traffic |
The new library, which is the largest in Central America, has been 'donated' by China. This is part of an agreement reached in 2019 between the two countries. China has recently invested in many historically 'developing' countries - Malawi was the same when we lived there. People far more qualified than me could explain the positives and negatives of this cooperation.
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| $54 million was donated by China for the library |
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| One of their next major collaborations is a new national football stadium |
What it has meant for El Salvador is that it has a new, state-of-the-art library downtown. It was wildly popular when it first opened in November 2023, with people queuing through the night to enter. With getting to Centro Historico a traffic-laden nightmare on weekends, it was somewhere I had avoided up to now.
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| A picture from the inauguration in November 2023 |
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| The library is open 24/7 |
As the busyness has dropped from its initial peak, and being on holiday, I used this early Wednesday morning to explore the shiny new library. 'Early' meant leaving before 6am to beat traffic, particularly as the car still wasn't firing on all cylinders at this point. Side note: the mechanics in San Miguel hadn't completed all the connections when fitting the new starter motor, meaning the car wouldn't go above 2,000rpm and really struggled to go up hills. It's fine as of this Friday!
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| Apparently the design evokes elements such as reefs, waves and volcanoes |
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"Elementary, my Dear Watson" never appears in an original Sherlock book.
Wonder if it does in the Spanish language versions... |
I was pretty much the only person in the library when I entered. The entrance is bright, spacious and…lacking books.
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| The main lobby |
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| Zone for smaller children, near the main entrance |
It's not that there aren't books. It's more a common theme as you move up the floors that there seems to be quite a lot of space for more books. Surprising, for a library. What it does have are zones based around books which have become more popular with the masses through film and television.
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| Lord of the Rings zone |
Other zones seem less obviously connected to reading. What they do is attract more children to the library, after which they may take a book home.
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| LEGO zone |
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| Star Wars zone |
Understandably, most books are in Spanish. Seeing some of the translations of popular book titles interested me. Others, such as 'The Hobbit', were self-explanatory.
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This sign is not inviting you to read at people;
leer is the Spanish verb for 'read' |
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| "A Promised Land" by Barack Obama |
The library has seven floors, meaning you get some lovely views as you move up the building. I had never noticed the JardÃn Centroamérica (Central American Garden) before, as it was only built ( with some controversy ) this year.
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| The garden has 14 flags from Central American and Caribbean nations |
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| The garden has 172 trees |
BINAES is an interesting and innovative addition to San Salvador's historic central district. As the city has become safer, more people are likely to move around freely and explore this part of town. It may look like it has been transplanted from another planet, but it is a library of which the country can be proud. A few more books wouldn't hurt, though…
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| View of the main plaza from the terrace |
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They've moved the 'El Salvador' sign from in front of
the palace to now sit in front of the library |
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| There are books, I promise! |
Love you all,
Matt
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