The Sunday Magazine·The Sunday Edition

The world's oldest functioning library was founded by a woman and has been restored by a woman

Architect Aziza Chaouni has just completed a 4-year project to restore the Al-Qarawiyyin library in the Moroccan city of Fez. It was founded in the year 859.
Inside a hall at the al-Qarawiyyin Library in the Moroccan city of Fez. Nestled in a labyrinth of streets, stands the world's oldest working library. Its sculpted dark wooden door stands almost hidden on the edge of a square where artisans hammer away at copper in a deafening din, delighting passing tourists. (FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)

Women have often been at the heart of libraries — in fact, the world's oldest working library was founded by a woman. Its restoration was commissioned by a woman. And a woman completed that restoration.

The al-Qarawiyyin Library is in the Moroccan city of Fez. It was founded in the year 859, and was the centre of intellectual life for centuries. Until recently, it was reserved for academics and theologians, but following an extensive renovation, the library opened its doors to the public this summer. 

Forty per cent of the population in Morocca is illiterate, so one way to make them encounter the library is not through reading books, since they can't, but through them looking at the manuscripts.- Aziza Chaouni

The architect responsible for the renovation is a Canadian-Moroccan woman. Aziza Chaouni is the founding principal of the firm Aziza Chaouni Projects, and associate professor in the faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design at the University of Toronto.

Click the 'play' button above to hear Michael's interview with Aziza Chaouni.