The current city of Alexandria bares little resemblance to the city the ancient library was built into. Most of the remnants of past eras, aside from the underwater ruins occasionally discovered by archaeologists, have been overwhelmed by the urban sprawl that now characterizes the city. The city stretches along 30 miles of shore and is home to 5 million Egyptian inhabitants, some of whom may not be as excited about the library's founding as the people behind it are.
The monumental Bibliotheca Alexandrina has come with the monumental price tag of $200 million. Fortunately for Alexandrian's and other Egyptians the project has been funded mostly by foreign donors, although the cost for running and maintaining it is high as well ($25 million/year). Part of the cost may be explained by so many imported building materials like the pinewood flooring and specially made metal roof panels. And one can only imagine that the design itself, a cylinder with a sloped roof that seems to dive into the ground, was costly to build even without importing materials. The design even includes hand-carved inscriptions of hieroglyphs and letters of various languages in the granite wall cladding, no doubt alluding to the history of Alexandria as well as to the intended future of this library as a place of international importance. But the plans for making the library a center of important research, if successful, may make the building pay for itself by bringing in more funds.
The completed building- which includes eight levels of reading rooms, computer rooms, and even a music department- is the final product of an effort that has been years in the making. The idea was first discussed at the University of Alexandria as something that would serve the large student body. Eventually the idea was taken up by GOAL (General Organization of the Alexandria Library) and UNESCO as well as international figures like former French president Francois Mitterand. The Egyptian President's wife Suzanne Mubarak was also heavily involved in the project and reportedly worked closely with the Norweigian architecture firm Snohetta to make sure the project was realized. The project seemed to attract wide interest with even Iraqi president Saddam Hussein making a large financial contribution.
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