Bibliotheca Alexandrina celebrates fifth anniversary

Egypt State Information Service

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) will hold in October 2007, several events, exhibitions, and conferences on the occasion of the passage of five years on the inauguration of the Library on 16 October 2002.

Dr. Ismail Serag el-Din, Director of the Library of Alexandria, stated on 14/10/2007 that the BA will witness several events as part of the celebrations of the BA's fifth anniversary including the First Middle East and North Africa Network for Environmental Economics (MENANEE) Conference on Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development.

The BA will organize, also, Women in Science Conference to shed lights on the role of women in science and technology; an exhibition and a seminar on the participation of women in peacemaking; in addition to the annual meeting of the BA International Friends Associations.

He added that several books will be launched also on the occasion of the BA anniversary, in addition to placing the 555,555th book entitled The Elements by Euclid, on the Library's shelves. This book is one of the most important texts ever written in Mathematics and Geometry, and is a reference to students in the East and West.

Dr. Serag el-Din also referred to two exhibitions that will be held as part of the celebrations—the first on the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, on the occasion of the Awards' 30th Anniversary. The Award, which was offered to the BA in 2004, aims at encouraging architectural and developmental initiatives in the Islamic societies. The second exhibition, held in cooperation with the Institut du Monde Arabe of Paris, features some of the sensitive projects of the great Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy.