He recounts stories of people who have struggled against tyranny to preserve freedom of thought-the Polish librarian who smuggled books to safety as the Nazis began their destruction of Jewish libraries the Afghani bookseller who kept his store open through decades of unrest. He ponders the doomed library of Alexandria as well as the personal libraries of Charles Dickens, Jorge Luis Borges, and others. Manguel, a guide of irrepressible enthusiasm, conducts a unique library tour that extends from his childhood bookshelves to the “complete” libraries of the Internet, from Ancient Egypt and Greece to the Arab world, from China and Rome to Google. “Libraries,” he says, “have always seemed to me pleasantly mad places, and for as long as I can remember I’ve been seduced by their labyrinthine logic.” In this personal, deliberately unsystematic, and wide-ranging book, he offers a captivating meditation on the meaning of libraries. In an area adjoining the exhibition, take a real-life tour of another, eleventh library wonder, which presents rare and ancient books from the extraordinary Séminaire de Québec collection, including the original edition of The Birds of America by John James Audubon and European incunables.Inspired by the process of creating a library for his fifteenth-century home near the Loire, in France, Alberto Manguel, the acclaimed writer on books and reading, has taken up the subject of libraries.

the Copenhagen University Library (Copenhagen, Danemark).

the library of Hase-dera temple (Kamakura, Japan).

the Sainte-Geneviève Library (Paris, France).

the Library of Parliament (Ottawa, Canada).

the library of the Nautilus submarine (based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne).

the National Academic Library of Sarajevo (Sarajevo, Bosnia).

the Megabiblioteca José Vasconcelos (Mexico City, Mexico).

the Library of Congress (Washington DC, USA).

the Library of Alexandria (Alexandria, Egypt).

the Admont Abbey Library(Admont, Austria).

Ten libraries virtually open their doors to visitors: They then move to an immersive forest landscape that provides a sharp contrast to the rigorous order usually associated with temples of knowledge. Upon entering the exhibition, visitors step into a recreation of Manguel's own library. If, as Manguel writes, 'the library in the morning suggests an echo of the severe and reasonably wishful order of the world, the library at night seems to rejoice in the world's essential, joyful muddle.' Limited accessīecause The Library at Night experience uses virtual reality headgear, the number of people per tour is limited. These tickets are free once you've paid your entry fee to the Musée.

Tickets are available on the same day at the reception desk of the Musée, on a first-come, first-served basis.

The library at night by alberto manguel