Revolutionary Libraries: Building Collections and Promoting Research about the January 25th Uprising in Egypt

Abstract

This paper describes the efforts made by the American University in Cairo's (AUC) Library to preserve the history and scholarship of the January 25th Revolution. In direct response to the uprising, AUC imagined University on the Square: Documenting Egypt's 21st Century Revolution, a participatory archives initiative that ‘seeks to preserve the momentous events of early 2011’ and ‘events as they unfold’ (American University in Cairo, 2011a). Librarians focused on improving revolution-focused book collections, simultaneously promoting the use of its research and instructional design services. Archivists worked to collect the outpouring of student projects, graduate theses, and faculty publications analysing the January 25th Revolution.