Sefer Festival 2006 @ Central Library
When I went to the Central Library at Victoria Street yesterday, I was surprised to find an unusually heightened level of security there. Policemen were conducting bag checks at the door leading into the Central Lending Library on the basement floor; there was even a metal detector installed there!
The reason for all these precationary measures was the Sefer Festival 2006, an Israeli book festival being held at the Central Library from the 24th to 31st of August. A librarian handed me a pamphlet as I walked in so I was able to see what it was all about and what I'd missed. It's actually quite an interesting festival, with a diverse range of books on display at the Central Lending Library! I was excited to see books by the Nobel-prize winning author S.Y. Agnon as well as a book titled 'Betzavta (Together) : Guide to teaching democracy through games', which raises the curiousity of the game designer in me.
I was told that a few of the books on display would make their way into the Library's collection, which is very cool indeed. It has often been said that literature is one of the cornerstones of Jewish culture- perhaps no other culture in the world has documented their experiences, problems and triumphs as thoroughly as they have. Through contemporary Israeli literature, I hope to find out more about the culture and lives of the citizens of this nation-state, which is sadly only known to most of us through news reports about the conflicts in which the country has long been embroiled.
The Sefer Festival also focuses on children's literature. If I'd known about the festival sooner, I would very much have wanted to go see one of the festival's events: 'Storytelling Secrets with Noga Algom,' which was held on the 26th and 27th of August. The event was a children's storytelling session; Noga Algom is said to be an accomplished writer and storyteller who conducts sessions for teachers, parents and children in Israel. I've come to be interested in traditional oral storytelling of late so I'd like to see such sessions to observe the methods and techniques of professional storytellers.
There's also an exhibition of children's books illustrations by Israeli artists, which sounds quite promising. I'll go back to the library tomorrow to take a look and snap a few photos. I hope the illustrations on exhibit are as lovely as this one by Ora Eitan (which was thoughtfully given out as a card at the library), created for an illustrated book version of Ella Fitzgerald's song "Tisket-a-Tasket."
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