The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is to reopen its doors in August, following the Eid Al-Adha holidays, to receive a limited number of postgraduate researchers only.
In a Sunday statement, the library vowed to ensure that the occupancy rate does not exceed 20% of its total capacity, and will take into consideration all the precautionary measures. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina will open its doors from 11:00 to 15:00.
The major library and cultural centre, located on the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt’s second city, has been closed for more than 100 days due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The library is both a commemoration of the ancient Library of Alexandria, a beacon of the city’s former reputation as a global centre of learning, and an attempt to rekindle something of the brilliance that this earlier centre of study and erudition represented.
The library added in the statement that the required precautionary measures will be announced later. It had suspended all its events, seminars, conferences, parties, and exhibitions, in March, based on decisions announced by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to combat the pandemic.
During the lockdown months, the library has presented many online activities, as an extension of the Maak Fel Bait (“Together At Home”) initiative launched by its Cultural Communication Section.
The activities included a varied cultural programme of lectures, art events, and live tours for the museums and exhibitions of the Library, which were published on the library’s channel on YouTube, and its official page on Facebook.
