The Bibliotheca Alexandrina has opened in Egypt, after years of effort to bring it to fruition. The original Library of Alexandria, founded in the fourth century BC, had in the neighborhood of 700,000 papyrus manuscripts by the middle of the first century BC. These were all catalogued and shelved alphabetically by author. It was an unbelievable collection, unlike anything known at the time. Alas, the library was eventually destroyed by fire. A “daughter library” that had been built for additional storage was deemed “pagan” by Christian rulers in early 400 AD and was also lost. It wasn’t until 1974 that the University of Alexandria began planning a replacement library. UNESCO got involved in 1986. Snohetta was awarded the architecture contract after an open competition and their design is certainly fitting for a monument to knowledge. It currently houses 240,000 volumes, so it has a ways to go to catch up, but it is also counting on the Internet Archive to boost its electronic holdings. Their website is available in Arabic, French, and English.