Category — Our Dear Histories

Libraries have been around for a very long time. In fact the oldest library recorded is the Library of Alexandria in Ancient Egypt. The exact date of this library’s construction is unknown but it is guessed to have been built circa 367 BC to 283 BC. We know of this library because of an inscription for Tiberius Claudius Balbilus of Rome where the Library of Alexandria is mentioned in the eighth line:

The word "BYBLIOTHECE" refers to the latin word for "library."

Here’s an ancient pen sketch of the Library of Alexandria. Just by the way the library patrons are dressed signifies how long ago this library is.

There are other very old libraries found from ancient times. Another very famous library is the Library of Celsus found in Ephesus, an ancient civilization in Turkey. This library demonstrates that libraries were to be found outside of the Roman Empire, and what is special about this library is that it is still standing. Many people from around the world make a special visit to this library.

The oldest functioning library since it’s creation is library at St. Catherine’s Monastery in Mt. Sinai, Egypt. This library has the second oldest collection of religious material while the Vatican in Rome has the largest. What’s unique about this library is that it’s closed to the public and only accessible to the monks who live at this monastery.

Photo by Joonas Plaan

One other library worth noting is the Library of Paris and the National Library of France. This library has been serving the public since 1368–even though its location has changed over the years.

Libraries have been around for a very long time! When analyzing the etymology of the Latin word, “bibliotheca,” “biblio” refers to “book” while “theca” refers to “box” or “vault.” Hence, a library is a collection of books kept together.

The Beijing Learning Summit is a local conference in Beijing put on by teachers for teachers. Rather than travel within Asia for various conferences, it’s time for educators within the Beijing area to collaborate amongst each other. The BLS offers us this very chance.

This year the Beijing Learning Summit will be held on Saturday, November 13th, at the Western Academy of Beijing from 8:00-4:00. To register for this conference visit the BLS site: http://blogs.wab.edu/bls2010/.

Qi (ch’i) is a very important fundamental concept of Traditional Chinese Medicine. While literally, “qi” is translated to mean “air,” “breath,” or “gas,” it’s true meaning goes deeper.  Qi refers to the energy found flowing within and around us.  In our human bodies, it is believed that Qi’s flow keeps us healthy and happy. While the flow of Qi in our bodies does much more, following are three important atributes of Qi: it helps to activate growth within our bodies, it has a warming action which keeps our bodies’ temperatures appropriate, and finally it has defending actions inside our bodies. When our Qi is imbalanced, we might not feel good, we might be sick, or we might just feel a bit off.  Stagnated Qi–Qi that needs to be moved around within our bodies– may be helped with massage or acupuncture. The meditative breathing practice that keeps Qi balanced is called Qigong (ch’i kung). Balance found with in structures is called Feng Shui (fung SHWAY). Mainly according to traditional Chinese culture, it’s important for our Qi to remain balanced in our bodies and around our surroundings.