Home / About the BA / Overview

The new Library of Alexandria, the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), is dedicated to recapturing the spirit of openness and scholarship of the original Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It is much more than a library. It comprises the following:

  • The Main Library (which can hold up to millions of books) and its affiliated libraries: the Francophone Library, the Depository Library, and the Maps Library

  • Six specialized libraries:

  1. The Arts and Multimedia Library
  2. The Taha Hussein Library for the visually-impaired
  3. The Children’s Library
  4. The Young People’s Library
  5. The Exchange and Archive Section
  6. The Rare Books and Special Collections Library
  • A copy of the Internet Archive

  • Four museums:

  1. The Antiquities Museum
  2. The Manuscripts Museum
  3. The Sadat Museum
  4. The History of Science Museum

  • The Planetarium Science Center (PSC)

  • The ALEXploratorium: an exploratorium for introducing children to science

  • The Culturama: a cultural panorama projected over nine screens. It is the first ever patented nine-projector interactive system. It has won many awards. The Culturama, developed by CULTNAT, allows the presentation of a wealth of data layers; presenters can click on an item and go to a whole new level of detail. It is a remarkably informative and attractive multimedia presentation of Egypt’s heritage spanning over 5,000 years of history with highlights and examples of Ancient Egyptian and Coptic/Muslim heritage.

  • VISTA (The Virtual Immersive Science and Technology Applications system): an interactive virtual reality environment that allows researchers to transform two-dimensional data sets into 3D simulations and step inside them. A practical tool of visualization during research, VISTA helps researchers to simulate the behavior of natural or human-engineered systems instead of merely observing a system or building a physical model.

  • Twelve academic research centers:

  1. Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Center (Alex Med)
  2. Writing and Scripts Center
  3. Center for Special Studies and Programs (CSSP)
  4. International School of Information Science (ISIS)
  5. Manuscripts Center
  6. Center for the Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT) – Cairo
  7. Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies
  8. Sustainable Development Studies, Youth Capacity Building, and African Relations Support Program
  9. Center for Islamic Civilization Studies
  10. Center for Coptic Studies
  11. Center for Strategic Studies
  12. The Women Studies and Social Transformation (WSST) Program

  • The Arts Center

  • Sixteen permanent exhibitions:

  1. Impressions of Alexandria: The Awad Collection
  2. The World of Shadi Abdel Salam
  3. Arabic Calligraphy: Mohamed Ibrahim Collection
  4. The History of Printing: Bulaq Press
  5. Arab-Muslim Medieval Instruments of Astronomy and Science (Star Riders)
  6. Mohamed Shaker Museum
  7. The Artist’s Book
  8. Mohie El Din Hussein: A Creative Journey
  9. The Raaya El-Nimr and Abdel-Ghani Abou El-Enein Collection of Arab Folk Art
  10. Selected artworks of Adam Henein (1929)
  11. Selected artworks of Ahmed Abdel-Wahab (1932)
  12. Selected artworks of Hassan Soliman (1928 - 2009)
  13. Farouk Shehata: A Continuing Experience
  14. Selections from Caricature Art
  15. Mohamed Hassanein Heikal… A Life Journey
  16. Nagy Shaker... The Passion of Experimentation and Discovery

  • Four art galleries for temporary exhibitions

  • The Conference Center (which can accommodate up to thousands of people)

    The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina also hosts a number of institutions:

  1. The Academia Bibliotheca Alexandrinae (ABA).
  2. Arabic Society for Ethics in Science & Technology (ASEST).
  3. The Anna Lindh Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures – the first Euro-Med foundation based outside Europe.
  4. The HCM Medical Research Project – located in Shallalat
  5. The Arab Regional Office of the Academy of Science for the Developing World (TWAS-ARO).
  6. The International Federation for Library Associations (IFLA) Regional Office.
  7. The Secretariat of the Arab National Commissions of UNESCO.
  8. The Middle Eastern and North African Network for Environmental Economics (MENANEE).
  9. The Arab Network for Women in Science and Technology (ANWST).
  10. The Secretariat Office of the North Africa and Middle East Science Centers Network (NAMES).

The number of these institutions continues to grow, making the BA the center of many international and regional networks.

 

Today, this vast complex has become a reality, receiving about 1.5 million visitors a year.