Bibliotheca Alexandrina facts for kids

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (which means 'Library of Alexandria' in Latin) is a huge library and cultural center. It sits right on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. This modern library was built to remember the famous Library of Alexandria, which was one of the biggest libraries in the world a long, long time ago but was later lost.

The idea to bring back the spirit of the old library started in 1974. Building work began in 1995, and the library officially opened on October 16, 2002. It cost about 220 million US dollars to build! In 2009, the library received a huge gift of 500,000 books from France's national library. This made the Bibliotheca Alexandrina the sixth-largest library in the world for books written in French.

The library has space for eight million books. Its main reading room is huge, covering 20,000 square meters. The building also has a conference center, special libraries for maps, movies, and even for people who are blind. There are four museums, art galleries, permanent exhibitions, a planetarium, and a lab to fix old manuscripts.

History of the Library

The modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina building by the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt.

Inside the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which opened in 2002.

The dream of bringing back the famous ancient library began in 1974. A group from Alexandria University chose a spot for the new library. It was near where the old library used to be, between the university and the sea. Many people and groups, including former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, supported this idea.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also joined in. They wanted to create a center for learning and culture in the Mediterranean region. This project aimed to make Alexandria a major center for knowledge again in the 21st century. UNESCO's help, starting in 1986, made the project truly international.

In 1988, UNESCO held a competition to pick the best design for the new library. A Norwegian architecture company called Snøhetta won. Their design was chosen from 524 entries! An international team of judges picked the winner. UNESCO also created a special group with people from 18 different countries to help with the project. This showed how important the library was to the world.

Money for the project was first promised at a meeting in 1990. Most of the money, about 65 million US dollars, came from countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Construction started in 1995. After spending about 220 million US dollars, the library officially opened on October 16, 2002.

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina has books in three languages: Arabic, English, and French. These are some of the most spoken languages in the world. In 2010, the library received another 500,000 books from France's national library. This made it the sixth-largest library for French books globally. It also became the biggest collection of French books in the Middle East and North Africa.

This large collection of French books also shows the long history of French influence in Egypt. This goes back to Napoleon Bonaparte's trip in the 1790s. French archaeologists found the important Rosetta Stone then, which helped translate ancient writings. Later, French efforts helped build the Suez Canal in the 1850s and 1860s. This changed world trade and connected three continents. Now, with this new library, France is again connected to Egypt and the region, which is known as the "Cradle of Civilization."

Building and Library Features

The library has space for eight million books. The main reading room is very large, covering 20,000 square meters, and has eleven levels that step down like a waterfall. The building also includes a conference center and special libraries for maps, movies, and people who are blind or have trouble seeing. There are also libraries for young people and children.

Inside, you'll find four museums, four art galleries for temporary shows, and 15 permanent exhibitions. There's also a planetarium and a lab to restore old manuscripts. The library's design is amazing. The main reading room has a glass roof that is 32 meters high. It tilts towards the sea like a sundial and is about 160 meters wide. The walls are made of gray Aswan granite. They are carved with letters and symbols from 120 different writing systems from around the world.

Many countries donated collections to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Spain gave documents about their time ruling parts of North Africa. France also donated documents about the building of the Suez Canal.

Internet Archive Partnership

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina works with the Internet Archive. This partnership helps save important information for future generations and makes knowledge available to everyone. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina was the first place to have a copy and backup of the Internet Archive's huge collection. The Internet Archive also gave five million US dollars to the library. This included:

• 10 billion web pages from 1996 to 2001, from over 16 million websites.
• 2000 hours of TV shows from Egypt and the U.S.
• 1000 old films.
• 100 terabytes of data stored on 200 computers.
• A special machine to scan local books.

Library Services

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina offers many activities and events. These include book fairs, book launches, concerts, conferences, and educational courses. They also have exhibitions, festivals, lectures, and workshops. These events are for adults, children, young people, and students.

Here are some of the special areas and collections you can find:

The Main Library

This part of the library can hold up to 8 million books.

Six Specialized Libraries

• The Arts and Multimedia Library, for music, movies, and art.
• The Taha Hussein Library, for people who are visually impaired.
• The Children's Library, for younger readers.
• The Young People's Library, for teenagers.
• The Microforms Library, which has tiny copies of old documents.
• The Rare Books and Special Collections Library, for very old and unique items.

A Copy of the Internet Archive

The library also lets you print books on demand using a special machine called the Espresso Book Machine.

Taha Hussein Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired

This library has special materials for people who are blind or have trouble seeing. It uses special computer programs that help readers access books and magazines. It is named after Taha Hussein, a famous Egyptian writer and critic. He became blind when he was three years old.

Nobel Section

This section has collections of books by people who have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. It includes winners from 1901 until today. The Nobel Section was opened in 2002 by the Queens of Sweden and Norway.

International Institutions

The library also hosts offices for important international groups:

• The Arab Regional Office of the Academy of Science for the Developing World.
• The International Federation for Library Associations Regional Office.
• The Secretariat of the Arab National Commissions of UNESCO.

Four Museums

Antiquities Museum

Opened in 2001, this is the first museum about ancient history to be inside a library. Its goal is to encourage research and cultural learning. The museum has about 1,316 ancient objects. These show Egyptian history from the time of the Pharaohs, through the rule of Alexander the Great and the Romans, up to the start of Islam in Egypt. Some of the items were even found underwater in the Mediterranean Sea!

The museum explains its artifacts in three languages: English, Arabic, and French.

Manuscript Museum

The Manuscript Museum lets visitors and researchers see rare old handwritten books and documents. It opened in 2001 and has one of the world's largest collections of digital manuscripts. This museum works to protect old writings and train new people to restore them.

The Manuscript Museum also works with the Manuscript Center. This center gives digital access to over 6,000 rare books, maps, and documents from the museum's collection. The museum has three main parts:

• Rare Collections: This part has unique items like original manuscripts, very old printed books, maps, and ancient coins.
• Microfilm: This section has tiny film copies of about 30,000 rare manuscripts and 50,000 documents. It also has a large collection of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish manuscripts from The British Library. You can also find many old national and Arabic newspapers here.
• Museographic Display: This part shows the museum's digital publications and selected digital manuscripts.

Sadat Museum

This museum displays many personal items that belonged to the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. You can see some of his military clothes, his Nobel Prize medal, his copy of the Qur'an, and some of his handwritten letters. There are also pictures of him and his family. You can even see the military robe he wore when he was assassinated. The museum also has a recording of his voice reading from the Qur'an and old newspaper articles about him.

History of Science

This museum focuses on the history of scientific discoveries and knowledge.

Permanent Exhibitions

Digital Collections

• Our Digital World: This exhibition shows some of the library's digital projects. These include digital copies of former presidents' papers, a science learning program, and the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL). You can also see digital versions of valuable books, like Description de l'Egypte.

Personal Collections

• The World of Shadi Abdel Salam: This exhibition has many works and items from the Egyptian film director, writer, and costume designer Shadi Abdel Salam. His family donated them to the library for a permanent display. You can see his personal library, some of his furniture, awards, and many storyboard drawings and costumes from his films.
• Impressions of Alexandria: This exhibition has two parts. One part shows how artists and travelers saw Alexandria from the 15th to the 19th century, with old drawings, maps, and engravings. The other part shows photographs from the 19th to mid-20th century, highlighting cultural works by writers and artists from that time.

CULTURAMA

The Culturama hall has a huge, curved screen that is 10 meters wide. It's made of nine separate screens that form a semicircle. Nine video projectors, controlled by one computer, show information. Culturama can display information in a way that regular computer screens cannot.

It was created by the Egyptian Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT). It shows three periods from Egypt's history:

• Ancient Egyptian Period
• Highlights of Islamic Civilization
• Modern Egypt

VISTA

VISTA stands for Virtual Immersive Science and Technology Applications. It uses special CAVE Technology. VISTA features several projects, including:

• BA Model: A complete virtual copy of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. You can see the main building, planetarium, study rooms, and even the furniture clearly.
• Sphinx: A virtual model of the famous Sphinx.
• Socio-Economic Data Visualization: A new way to show numbers and data. For example, it can show information from the UN about health care, how long people live, and how many people can read in different countries over 25 years.

Panoramic photo for planetarium

Digital Assets Repository

The Digital Assets Repository (DAR) is a system built at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It helps create and keep digital library collections safe for future generations. It also lets the public freely access the library's digital collections online.

Management

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is managed by a Council of Patrons, a Board of Trustees, and a Director. The first director was Ismail Serageldin, who served until 2017. He was also in charge of the library's research institutes and museums. The current director is Dr. Moustafa El Feqy.

The Council of Patrons includes world leaders. The Board of Trustees has important people from science and culture, both Egyptian and from other countries.

The Library and the 2011 Revolution

During the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the library was closed. But young people and protesters formed a circle around the building. They wanted to protect it from anyone who might try to loot or damage it. Students from nearby universities make up most of the library's visitors. The library is known for supporting open ideas. It holds discussions on human rights and stands against censorship. Many believe that by promoting tolerance and free speech, the library helped create the atmosphere that led to the changes in Egypt.

In 2011, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina held many discussions to support the Egyptian community. These talks focused on the 2011 revolution, the Egyptian Constitution, and democratic government in Arab countries. Other topics included social work, human development, culture, geography, economy, and literature. All these events were free for everyone to attend. Many of the presentations are still available online. The library also has a photo gallery of the January 25, 2011 revolution and works to document the movement.

Gallery

See also

In Spanish: Bibliotheca Alexandrina para niños

• Bibliotheca Alexandrina's 100 Greatest Egyptian Films
• Planetarium Science Center