The Durrës public library is quieter than usual this early September.
The sidewalk at the entrance to the building is blocked by cars parked as best they can, in the absence of alternative spaces.
On September 10, the library is supposed to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its founding, but no one knows for sure whether or not there will be a celebratory ceremony.
One thing is certain: the "gateway to knowledge," as its employees like to call the library, continues to function in the same 1945 residence, a villa belonging to a wealthy family.
Efforts to build a new library have repeatedly failed.
In these 8 decades, the library has been frequented by thousands of readers of different ages.
“I worked for many years on the first floor, where the young children were registered,” Milika Simsia, who retired several years ago, told BIRN.
"The facilities were very cramped, but 50-60 children were served every day, including those who later became writers and poets, such as Bashkim Hoxha, Viktor Canosinaj, Ilia Dede or Petraq Risto," adds the elderly lady.
Simsia remembers that in the late 1970s there was an attempt to build a new building, but everything remained within the framework of the projects.
Another project is also recalled by one of the former library directors, who wishes not to be identified.
“I found on my desk a detailed project for the future building, a project that was drafted following the request of the Culture and Arts Committee in 1989,” she says.
Immediately after the changes of the 1990s, Soros and a German foundation offered their financial support for the construction, which would transfer the old library to a new building.
According to the local government, the construction of the new building has not been carried out due to the lack of free land in the city center.
Over the past three decades, dozens of palaces and buildings of all kinds have been built in the coastal city, but there has been a lack of space for a library and a cinema.
The mayors who have replaced each other in the last 33 years have almost never scheduled the construction of a new library.
In recent years, the building has been returned to the owners' family and the library regularly pays its monthly rent.
Mirjam Reçi from the Center for Social Development recalls the 2022 agreement that civil society and the newly elected mayor signed on the priorities of her mandate, including the construction of the library. Although three years have passed, the library has not been built.
Writer Viktor Canosinaj, author of 50 books for children and young people, told BIRN that the commitment of library employees should be appreciated.
“Although I have been living in Tirana for years, many book promotions have been held in Durrës,” Canosinaj told BIRN.
Other cities, with smaller populations, have long since resolved to build a new library.
According to the Durrës-based writer, Lezha, Korça, Berat or Elbasan are now bringing reading and book promotion spaces closer to visitors.
While Durrës has remained in the same condition for many, many years, with a total of 375 square meters.
"All activities are organized at the "Aleksandër Moisiu" Palace of Culture, since the library does not even have an activity hall," added the Durrës-based writer.
Local intellectuals have proposed several solutions to the problem.
“The Railways Directorate building could be a very good alternative, as could the 6-story building that the CEZ electricity company built two years ago in Durres, and which is only partially used,” Doranin Agalliu, a financier who has published several books, told BIRN.
Agalliu suggests that the land of the "Mujo Ulqinaku" port club could also serve for the construction of a multi-story building, and a good project could place a cinema or art gallery on the same territory along with the library.
"Durres lacks all these cultural institutions and so far nothing has been done to build them," he concluded./Reporter.al
