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In the name of the People
The President of the Republic of Egypt
The People’s Assembly has enacted the following law and we have hereby issued it:

ARTICLE 1

The Library of Alexandria is a public juridical person headquartered in the city of Alexandria, attached to the President. It is an Egyptian center of cultural radiance, a beacon for thought, culture and science, encompassing all the products of the human mind in all languages, from all cultures, ancient and modern.

ARTICLE 2

The Library of Alexandria comprises the Library, the Planetarium, and the Conference Center, and it is to establish the following cultural and scientific centers:  

  1. International School for Information Studies (ISIS).
  2. Center Documentation and Research.
  3. History of Science Museum.
  4. Calligraphy Institute.
  5. Manuscript Museum.
  6. Center for the Preservation of Rare Books and Documents.

Additional cultural or scientific centers may be established by decree of the President. The President shall also, by decree, define the legal status of these centers.

ARTICLE 3

The Library shall undertake all activities that serve its mission, taking all the related necessary steps by:

  1. Obtaining researches, books, periodicals, manuscripts, papyri, and other items related to the Egyptian civilization in its different ages, and related to the scientific, intellectual and cultural heritage of the countries of the world.
  2. Compiling originals or copies of manuscripts that represent the intellectual achievements of the Islamic and Arab World in ancient and modern languages.
  3. Compiling biographies and achievements of eminent figures in the realms of thought, science, politics and religion throughout the history of mankind.
  4. Undertaking studies connected to the historical, geographical, cultural and religious aspects of the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Egypt, and Alexandria in particular.

ARTICLE 4

The President of the Republic shall determine by decree the mechanisms by which the Library shall be supervised and administered, and the method in which its administrative and financial affairs shall be run, in a manner appropriate with the nature of its activities. Thus enabling it to achieve its mission, and without being constrained by the administrative regulations stated in any other law.

ARTICLE 5

The resources of the Library shall comprise: 

  1. Allocations provided for by the State.
  2. Support, gifts, donations, bequests, and financial contributions from national or international sources.
  3. Loans secured in favor of the Library.
  4. Revenues from operating services and activities and returns on invested funds.
  5. Any other sources that may be legally allocated to the Library.

ARTICLE 6

The Library shall have an independent budget, and its financial year shall start and end with the financial year of the Government.
The Library shall have a separate account with the Central Bank of Egypt or in a commercial bank subject to the approval of the Minister of Finance.
It shall deposit, in an allotted account, the proceeds of its resources.
The surplus in that account shall be carried forward from one financial year to the next.

ARTICLE 7

Within the limits of its official use and requirements, the Library and its affiliated bodies shall be exempt from general taxation of its surpluses and the revenues of its current activities, and from all charges for registration and declaration, and from customs duties on its imports of scientific material.

ARTICLE 8

Presidential Decree No. 523 of 1988, establishing the General Organization for the Library of Alexandria, shall remain operative in all matters that do not contravene this Law, until the Presidential Decree stated in Article 4 of this Law shall be enacted. Thereupon, all the assets, rights and obligations of the abolished Organization shall revert to the Library.

ARTICLE 9

This Law shall be published in the national official journal and shall enter into force the day following its publication. This Law is to be stamped with the seal of State and is to be enforced as one of the laws of the State.

Issued at the Presidency of the Republic on17 Dhul Hijja 1421, 12 March 2001.

Hosni Mubarak