First Trilingual Street Library to Open in Jerusalem Tara Kavaler 04/04/2021
The only Jerusalem library in a ‘mixed’ neighborhood may provide another venue for Jewish, Arab co-existence
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion is set to inaugurate the first street library in the mixed Arab-Jewish neighborhood of Abu Tor, also designed to be the first trilingual street library in the capital city, with sections for books written in English, Hebrew and Arabic.
As one of the few mixed areas left in Jerusalem, organizers hope the library, which will be inaugurated on April 12, will spur more coexistence efforts.
The concept for the library started at the time of the first lockdown due to the coronavirus in late winter 2020, when Lauri Donahue, who is part of the campaign to send books to Gaza, was left with extra books after the operation was halted due to the pandemic. She did not want the books to go to waste, so she went on her Abu Tor neighborhood WhatsApp group and asked if anyone wa