Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Library of Alexandria
مكتبة الإسكندرية Bibliotheca Alexandrina
31°12′32″N 29°54′33″E / 31.20889°N 29.90917°E / 31.20889; 29.90917
Location	Alexandria, Egypt
Type	National library
Established	16 October 2002; 21 years ago (2002-10-16)
Access and use
Members	16,322 (2012)
Other information
Director	Dr. Ahmed Abdullah Zayed
Website	www.bibalex.org/en/default

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin, 'Library of Alexandria';^[1] Arabic: مكتبة الإسكندرية, romanized: Maktabat al-’Iskandariyya, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mækˈtæb(e)t eskendeˈɾejjæ]) (BA) is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria, once one of the largest libraries worldwide, which was lost in antiquity. The idea of reviving the old library dates back to 1974 when a committee set up by Alexandria University selected a plot of land for its new library. Construction work began in 1995, and after some US$220 million had been spent, the complex was officially inaugurated on 16 October 2002. In 2009, the library received a donation of 500,000 books from the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). The gift makes the Bibliotheca Alexandrina the sixth-largest Francophone library in the world.^[2]

The library offers shelf space for eight million books, and its main reading room spans 20,000 square meters (220,000 sq ft). The complex also houses a conference center; specialized libraries for maps, multimedia, the blind and visually impaired, young people, and for children; four museums; four art galleries four temporary exhibitions; 15 permanent exhibitions; a planetarium; and a manuscript restoration laboratory.