PRESIDENT Demetris Christofias yesterday laid the foundations stone for the new state-of-the-art University of Cyprus library, which is set to open its doors in September 2014.
The library’s collection, which will be housed in an impressive dome-shaped building holding around 600,000 books, more than 30,000 magazines and 40,000 books all in digital format plus 10,000 audio books and 150 databases. Its contents will be accessible to all Cypriots.
“The completion of this particular project, the Stelios Ioannou Information Centre-Library, will constitute a significant core for the development of society’s knowledge, as well as being an architectural landmark,” said Christofias at the ceremony held yesterday.
Also present at the ceremony was Education Minister Giorgos Demosthenous along with various government officials and mps.
The project , which in addition to the library, includes an information centre, technical support for teaching and a language centre, was designed by the internationally acclaimed French architect Jean Nouvel.
It is being constructed north east of the Aglandjia campus and will cover over 15,000 square metres of land. The project was undertaken by construction company J&P and J&P Avax Joint Ventures-Stelios Ioannou Library at a cost of €27.7 million.
It will have the potential not only to cover the needs of every academic but also any member of the public interested in using its facilities.
“This will help immensely in the fulfilment of dreams for years to come for the University of Cyprus as well as for Cyprus and its people,” said Christofias, thanking Elli Ioannou for gifting the University with €8 million in memory of her husband, Stelios Ioannou.
The University’s rector Constantinos Christofides called the library a legacy for future generations and a project that fulfils the University’s goals. It is designed to serve around 10,000 students.
He also said that it would be the island’s first library to be built on such an enormous scale because despite the shift to a more technological age, “the book remains a powerful symbol of knowledge and a bridge between student and teacher”, he said.
With over quarter of a million books on its shelves already and adding12,000 new titles a year, the UCY library is setting its sights on becoming a national research facility in collaboration with other local libraries
