Located in the heart of the country’s capital, the BINAES library of El Salvador stands as a monument to the love of knowledge, literature, and technology — accessible to the public 24 hours a day, free of charge. Represented directly in front and carefully connected to the Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador, BINAES is also surrounded by the Palacio Nacional de El Salvador (left/right) and the Jardín Centroamérica, all symbols and reminders of dreams. The dream of people who raise beauty, love of knowledge and faith, and share it with the world.
Having traveled to many countries and cities in my life, I must say that the safety, tranquility and cleanliness of this area of San Salvador was amazing. A stark contrast is the city squares of many western capitals, which are often unsafe, full of trash, and home to the homeless and drug addicts. Instead, both outside the library, in the gardens and walkways of the city square, as well as inside the library, palace and gardens, children and their families can be seen peacefully, running around, enjoying this worldly treasure.
Granted to El Salvador by the Chinese government, BINAES is a 7-story building with many amenities, including a restaurant on the first floor and an Italian restaurant on the 7th. Many venues for various events, both public and private. BINAES is well-known for its futuristic design, in line with its location and vision for the future of El Salvador, which also hosts Bitcoin technology and educational materials.
With a focus on helping families and the next generation, the second floor is a children’s playground filled with educational materials, books and physical entertainment for children to unleash their energy. On the third floor there is a large area dedicated to LEGOs, a powerful educational tool known to inspire a love of building in children, and several tables where parents sit with their children and play. They also have video games for kids, such as cooperative and family-friendly games like Mario Party and the popular Minecraft.
The fourth floor is aimed at children 8-12 and fans of fairy tales and fantasy, with areas dedicated to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter, as well as hundreds of manga books covering the greatest stories of the Japanese genre. Many of these areas include collections of legos and merchandise from the movies, and, of course, complete libraries of books for every fictional universe.
On the fifth floor is the house of books, history and great books, which are considered to be the foundation of the library, and thousands of books on all major types of knowledge. Among them, the main part of the social sciences, which includes economics, led to examples of Austrian economists such as Mises, Milton Friedman, Rothbard, and Ayn Rand, although they were not very deep.
This unique topic, which is very important to the history, economic theory of Bitcoin and its cultural roots, is one that this library was criticized for years ago when it was first completed. Back then, a popular tweet said that the library was not financially viable, which has changed today, but that could change. Their collection, for example, did not include Rand’s fiction, her several philosophical books; This is something that can easily be changed, though, since the library accepts book donations. Donors can help by sending BINAES work emails for the first time consultalealbibliotecario@cultura.gob.sv.
The sixth floor is the highest point. Coming out of the locker, the first thing you see is a shelf similar to Bitcoin with a hard copy of Bitcoin books, which cover its economy, software design and financial history, among many other topics. This special installation is a work done by Alejandra Guajardoalso known as Miss Bitcoin, a Salvadorian model who represented the country at the Miss Universe 2022 pageant. His Bitcoin Book Shelf The project aims to install this type of installation in libraries around the world, expanding the project to Mexico. Investors who want to lead the establishment of Bitcoin bookshelves in their local libraries can ask him to make it happen.
In the middle of the same room there is a beautiful Bitcoin lounge, which has a shelf similar to that of Bitcoin plushies called. Little Hodlers led by an artist and Bitcoin evangelist Lina Seiche. The main display shows Mempool.spaceThe smartest and most popular Bitcoin block explorer, shows online data and statistics.
The ground floor also includes 3D printers, robotics equipment, high-quality digital whiteboards, a playground with state-of-the-art gaming equipment, a virtual gallery, computers accessible to the public for research, and a digital information panel. 9 million books accessible to the public. Also a variety of dedicated office space for students and teams to take advantage of and work.
Finally, there is the seventh room, the home of art, which at the time of my visit was hosting a variety of artworks, showing the history of El Salvador through the architecture of famous places in the area. In the center of the hall, between the museum and the Basílico Italian Bistro, there are portraits of Bukele and the first lady Gabriela Bukele, perfectly aligned with the Metropolitan Cathedral across the square, a beautiful building that strengthens the relationship between high art and faith.
Overall, although this library has the highest Chinese library technology, which is slightly different from the ancient Roman architecture of the area, the BINAES library should serve as a visionary heritage of the people who define themselves. Philosopher King and his authority.
