The memorandum of understanding, signed with the Iranian librarian, Muhammad Kazem Mousavi Bojnourdi, allows for an exchange of books, periodicals and other documents.
"Exchange of books is something that in and of itself does not matter at all to me," he said.
Francis and Castro met in the company of 10 to 15 other people, including Castro's wife and grandchildren, and the encounter involved an exchange of books.
During his first year, Bertrand Russell gave a lecture, and afterwards Alfred Whitehead (who had co-written Principia Mathematica with him) introduced Russell to the young philosopher, leading to an exchange of books and letters.
The exchange of books and photographs, and long trans-Atlantic conversations, became the points of reference in design, fleshed out as concepts by Ms. Ward and a team of about 20 designers over the summer in New York and shown in pieces to Mr. Lagerfeld during visits to the city in October and December.
At its most minimalist interpretation, a library can just be a space that facilitates the exchange of books between friends.
It facilitates the exchange of books between people just like me, looking for a good home for the overflow of books on our shelves, and the troops stationed all over the world, looking for something good to read.
Many places now provide for this exchange of books, allowing you to pick up a new one for free to read as well.
However, one hugely positive factor about my walk home was that my mother would stop off at Egglescliffe Library almost every evening so that she, my sister and I could exchange handfuls of books – books we would read in 24 or 48 hours.
They raise funds for charity via things like Twestival, they solicit donations for catastrophe victims, they send word of upcoming events, they exchange titles of books they like.
