From Africa Recovery, Vol.16 #4 (February 2003), page 24

ALEXANDRIA
A library reborn in Africa

After almost 30 years of planning, the Bibliotheca Alexandria, a large, modern world-class library, was inaugurated in October in Alexandria, Egypt. A joint project of the government of Egypt and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Bibliotheca Alexandria has arisen on the site where the ancient library of Alexandria stood before it was destroyed by a fire more than 2,000 years ago, after seven centuries as the world's foremost centre of learning and science.

"The revival of this renowned institution goes to the heart of UNESCO's mission to promote the development and sharing of knowledge for mutual understanding and the affirmation of cultural identity, diversity and dialogue among civilizations," says Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, UNESCO's director-general.

Bibliotheca Alexandria was conceived as a centre of culture, science and academic research, with libraries, museums, a planetarium, exhibition areas, educational centres and an international conference centre. The building is distinguished by a granite wall covered with the letters of all the world's alphabets. It already is the largest library in the Middle East and Africa, holding 240,000 books, 1,500 periodicals and 500 computers. The ancient library of Alexandria at its peak probably held some 700,000 scrolls, equivalent to about 100-125,000 printed books today. The new library has considerable scope for expansion, with a capacity to hold as many as 8 million books.

This article may be freely reproduced, with attribution to "Africa Recovery, United Nations".
Permission to use photographs must be obtained from the copyright holder, as credited.
We would appreciate receiving a copy of any article reproduced.

Africa Recovery
1 United Nations Plaza, Rm. 550
New York, NY 10017 USA

Tel: (212) 963-6857
Fax: (212) 963-4556
Email: africa_recovery@un.org

Website: www.africarecovery.org
Contact us by email: africa_recovery@un.org