THE VATICAN CLOSES LIBRARY

Vatican Library closure irks scholars
By David Willey
BBC News, Rome
Tuesday, 17 July 2007, 06:30 GMT 07:30 UK

One of the world's oldest public libraries, the Vatican Library, has closed for rebuilding.

It is not expected to reopen before September 2010.

The reading rooms were unusually full last week.

Bespectacled university professors, graduate students from famous universities around the world, monks wearing brown and black habits, and Biblical researchers from more than 50 countries were sitting elbow-to-elbow at desks piled with documents and crowded with laptops and ancient manuscripts.

They were working desperately against time to complete their work before the closing down for the next three years of this powerhouse of academic research.

Continued...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6901606.stm