New library opened to the Banbury public

The Bayt'al'Hikmah (House of Wisdom) library has been unveiled at the Banbury Madni Mosque in Merton Street.

It will provide space for anyone seeking information, access to IT facilities or a space to study and meet. The library has a children’s reading corner with hundreds of titles to browse,and host schools for educational visits.

A spokesperson for the Banbury Madni Mosque said: "Banbury Madni Masjid would like to thank all those who participated and work tirelessly in this project.

"The history of libraries is a history of human thought, for libraries have been the stronghold of thoughts, preserving them and passing them from generation to generation.

"We take our inspiration from one of the great learning centres of the world. We can say that among the first centres of human civilisation intellect was the library Bayt'al'Hikmah located in Baghdad, which 1,200 years ago was the thriving capital of the Muslim civilisation."