Resurrecting an Ancient Library. – “Two thousand years after it was destroyed by fire, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina—the mythic Egyptian library that at one time boasted a universal collection of everything ever written—was reopened to the public on October 16.”
“The idea of resurrecting the Bibliotheca Alexandrina began in 1974 as part of an expansion campaign of the University of Alexandria, but it wasn't until 1990, at an international conference in Egypt, that world leaders met to draft the Aswan Declaration for the Revival of the Ancient Library of Alexandria. With the assistance of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), signatories pledged to create an institution that would become a center of dialogue among ideas and cultures, a symbol of peace and cooperation in an increasingly unstable region. Construction of the $200 million project began in the summer of 1995.” (from Poets and Writers via Online Bookselling Resource Center) [Library Stuff]