Ismail Serageldin started his tenure as DG of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina with an open meeting with all the staff from the Janitors to the Directors. The meeting lasted for almost three hours, with all the time taken up with questions and answers following the opening 20 minute presentation by the new Director General a.i. While staff remained uneasy that there were no absolute guarantees of continued employment, they welcomed the open and candid style in which the meeting was conducted.
We asked Ismail Serageldin about the meeting and he said that he felt it was the beginning of a new relationship with the staff, and that it was going to be a major transition for many as they moved towards a new style of doing business, one more compatible with the demands of the new phase of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina's existence. He said:"There is no doubt that the months ahead will be an important period of transition, to a system where communications with the rest of the world are going to be extremely important. This requires changes in the way we do business and the manner in which we communicate."
Those of us who know him well, or have had the occasion to work with him in the past are confident that he will be able to communicate his infectious enthusiasm to the staff of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina as he has done so many times before in so many different areas. Along with his many other friends, we wish him much success in the months ahead. More to the point, however, all those of us who think that this is a great project, pray for Serageldin's success for that is what will help the Bibliotheca meet the very high expectations that the world has of it.
