Bulgaria: The beach library is located in Black Sea resort in Albena, Bulgaria. It is the first beach library in Europe and the third worldwide. Over 2,500 books are available in 10 different languages.
Each book is marked with a national flag of the language the book is written in. The Library is free, and the guests often leave their own books for others before returning home.
How do the books stay dry?
Herman Kompernas, the Library’s architect and project manager, explained: “We found a material that is very resistant to sun and water. We also found a stabilization method very quickly. We chose a sort of pallet construction for under the Library to make it very stable against the wind.” In rainy weather, the books are protected by vinyl and fastened with a zipper.
The beach library of Albena is 12 linear meters long, has 140 shelves with the capacity to collect more than 4,000 books and is two-sided for easy accessibility.
The book is The Girls’ Life Guide to Growing Up by Karen Bokram. Thank you to Diane Levin Winger for finding the title- Hi there! I hope someone can help.
Aoife L said, “I read a book when I was about 12-14, and it was a book about navigating life as a teenager. It was an American book, and I remember coming across a reference to the band Pearl Jam. I can’t remember the complete sentence, but part of it was “maybe your old Pearl Jam CD.” I also remember that the book had sections on high school, puberty, hobbies and looking after yourself. I know I borrowed the book from a library, but I have not been able to track it down since. I can’t even remember the author or title. Any help would be much appreciated.”
“Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.
But no. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die.
“You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.”
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said.