Law No.1 for the year 2001

Concerning the Library of Alexandria

In the name of the People
The President
The People’s Assembly has enacted the following law and we have hereby issued it:

Article 1

The Library of Alexandria is a public juridical person headquartered in the city of Alexandria, attached to the President. It is an Egyptian center of cultural radiance, a beacon for thought, culture and science, encompassing all the products of the human mind in all languages, from all cultures, ancient and modern.

Article 2

The Library comprises the Library, the Planetarium and the Conference Center and it is to have the following cultural and scientific institutions established within it:

International School for Information Studies (ISIS),

Center Documentation and Research,

Science Museum,

Calligraphy Institute,

Manuscripts Museum,

Center for the Preservation of Rare Books and Documents;

Other cultural or scientific institutions may be added or established by a decree of the President of the Republic, and the President of the Republic shall by decree define the Legal status of the institutions mentioned in this article.

Article 3

The Library shall undertake all activities that serve its mission, and undertake all actions related to so doing, by:

Obtaining studies, books, periodicals, manuscripts, papyri and other items that are related to the Egyptian civilization in its different ages, and related to the scientific, intellectual and cultural heritage of the countries of the world.

Collecting originals or copies of manuscripts that represent the intellectual achievements of the Islamic and Arab World in ancient and modern languages.

Collecting materials connected to the biographies and achievements of eminent figures in the realms of thought, science, politics and religion throughout human history.

Undertaking studies connected to the historical, geographic, cultural and religious aspects of the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Egypt and Alexandria, in particular.

Article 4

The President of the Republic shall determine by decree the manner in which the Library shall be supervised and administered, and the method in which its administrative and financial affairs shall be run, in a manner appropriate with the nature of its activities to enable it to achieve its mission, and this without being constrained by the administrative regulations stated in any other law.

Article 5

The resources of the Library shall be comprised of:

The allocations provided for it by the State.

The support, gifts, donations, bequests, and financial contributions from internal or external sources.

The loans that will be secured for its benefit.

The income it shall receive for its services and the returns on the invested funds.

Any other sources that may be legally allocated to the Library.

Article 6

The Library shall have an independent budget, and its financial year shall start and end with the financial year of the government’s budget.

The Library shall have a separate account in the Central Bank of Egypt or in a commercial bank subject to the approval of the Minister of Finance.

It shall deposit in a said account the proceeds of its resources. The surpluses in that account shall be carried forward from one financial year to the next.

Article 7

Within the limits of its official use and requirements, the Library and its affiliated bodies shall be exempt from general taxation of its surpluses and the revenues of its current activities, and from all charges for registration and declaration, and from customs duties on its imports of scientific material.

Article 8

Presidential Decree No.523 for 1988, establishing the General Organization for the Library of Alexandria, shall remain operative in all matters that do not contravene this Law, until the Presidential Decree mentioned in Article Four of this Law shall be enacted. Thereupon, all the assets, rights and obligations of the abolished Organization shall revert to the Library.

Article 9

This Law shall be published in the Official Journal and shall enter into force the day following its publication. Set the official seal of the State, and is to be executed as a law of the State. Issued at the Presidency of the Republic on 17 Dhul Hijja 1421 AH, 12 March 2001.

[Published in the Official Journal on 17 Dhul Hijja AH, 12 March 2001, volume for year 44, issue 10 bis]