Behind My Doors

Review
By Booklist

Commemorating what is said to be the world’s oldest continuously open library, Khan gives the building itself a stately voice to describe its AD 859 founding in Fez by a wealthy woman named Fatima al-Fihri, some of its bookish treasures, its long decline after being a center of learning for scholars including Maimonides and Ibn Khaldun, and its modern refurbishment by architect Aziza Chaouni. Adani’s atmospheric views of the city’s medina (old quarter) and the library’s quiet courtyard lead to views of modern book stacks and students mingling in a bright, classically decorated reading room. In a quick afterword, the author adds details about the attached university (also said to be the world’s oldest) and about Chaouni, closing with reference sources in English. The library’s role in the history of scholarship is well established, and readers will have no trouble extending the thought that its purpose as a place “to sit, think, and dream big” encompasses all of its descendants.