The Saint Mark Public Library will contain a state-of-the-art electronic library and will house specialized manuscript and rare book exhibits as well as combine library and research facilities. The library will also house support facilities such as a digital studio, indexing and archiving facilities, audiovisual means as well as restoration units. This library will also house a distinguished system to preserve the diverse forms
of information in the best and the safest way. This leads scholars to reach their aim quickly and accurately.
The Library will bring together both original Coptic manuscripts and high quality reproductions of manuscripts and texts available in collections abroad as well as those found in Egyptian monasteries. The collection will include various reproductions of manuscripts exhibited at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, the National Library of Paris, the Vatican Library, the National Library of Austria and the Louvre among others.
Original manuscripts will be digitally indexed and archived in a unique comprehensive digital archive. The Library will also be linked electronically to the libraries of monasteries, convents, and churches in Egypt and the world at large.
Collections and exhibits of original manuscripts will include:
· 3,500 volumes in Arabic and other languages, donated by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III.
· 27,000 volumes in Arabic and other languages, the library of the Seminary.
· 32,000 volumes in Arabic and other languages, the library of the late Bishop Gregorius.
· 13,000 volumes in Arabic and other language, the library of the late Dr. Morad Kamel.
The manuscripts include:
· 1,310 unique manuscripts from the old Coptic Patriarchate Library.
· Photocopies of 1,140 manuscripts (nearly 1 million folios).
donated by St. Shenouda the Archimandrite Society (a copy of these were donated to the Library of Alexandria by H.H. Pope Shenouda III).
· 360 manuscripts on microfiche (7,110 folios)
· A tremendous amount of rare manuscripts and books.
