The Young People's Library (YP) opens up a vast world of knowledge, entertainment, culture, and information for youth ages 12 to 16 years. The YP Library introduces young adults to modern information technology, develops their global awareness and knowledge, encourages social interaction in and out of the library, and develops their reading and research skills. YP librarians follow school curricula in order to ensure availability of support materials to help students prepare their research assignments using BA resources in print and non-print format. The collection of books in the YP Library covers the same subject areas as the Main Library, but takes into consideration young adults' special needs and requirements. The YP Library offers access to digitized books, periodicals, multimedia and e-resources, with free access to the Student Resource Center database covering most subject areas.
Featured Programs at the YP Library
The Reading for All program, established in the early 1990's by HE Suzanne Mubarak, is a program aimed at increasing the awareness of education through reading.
My Book Digital and Printed project is an original BA program where young adults can read digitized books on the internet or print them out, bind them, and take them home (http://archive.bibalex.org/mybook/fp/).
The Information for All program in the YP Library is an extension of the program featured in the Children's Library. It continues to teach young adults the methodology of research through references, books, periodicals, online catalogs, and the internet. The goal of the program is to teach youth vital information literacy skills.
The YP Library is an active member in IEARN, the International Education and Resource Network, with access to a network involving over 100 countries. IEARN empowers young people to work together online using the internet and other communication technologies. The YP Library's involvement allows Egyptian youth to develop an involvement in community issues, needed skills in research and critical thinking, experience with new technology, and cultural awareness. The YP librarians help groups of young adults choose topics of interest, then guide the groups in all aspects of their projects, from the gathering of the information needed for implementing their projects, to the final project report or presentation. The city of Alexandria, one of the special areas of concentration of the BA, was chosen as the core subject for this program, concentrating on its history, archeological sites and districts, museums, and historical mosques and churches.
The YP Library also partners with the BA's exhibitions, museums, and ALEXploratorium to increase youth involvement and awareness of the BA's offered benefits.