John Sarbanes: “On April 23, in Alexandria, Egypt, the Library of Alexandria (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) will be formally and joyfully…”

“On April 23, in Alexandria, Egypt, the Library of Alexandria (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) will be formally and joyfully inaugurated. This is a signal event in the history of world culture. The new library has been built on the site of the ancient Library of Alexandria, not in imitation of its renowned predecessor but rather, as its first Chief Librarian, Dr. Ismail Seragaldin, has observed, to recapture the spirit and emulate the ideals, scholarship and research of the Ancient Library. It is also, significantly, the first major library to open anywhere in the world in the third millennium. From the time of its establishment in the 4th century B.C.E. until its destruction by fire some 1,600 years ago, the Ancient Library stood as a preeminent center of learning. It brought together the Pharaonic and Hellenistic cultures, reflecting and reinforcing Egypt's pivotal role as a cradle of civilization. Alexandria was a magnificent city, a great center of both commerce and intellectual endeavor, and the library was its anchor indeed, the library was emblematic of the city. With its collection of some 700,000 manuscripts and its phalanx of scholars, Euclid and Archimedes among them, it was also, effectively, the world's first university. And although the library was lost many centuries ago, it has remained a lustrous symbol of scholarship and intellectual inquiry.”