Books and Periodicals


The core of the E.G.S. library at the very beginning represented some 2500 titles donated by its founder Khedive Ismail. Similar donations from members of the Royal dynasty and the Egyptian cultural elites were added and contributed to a marked escalation in the overall number of its acquisitions. Foremost amongst these donations were the collections of Mahmoud Pasha Al Falaki, Prince Haidar Fadel, Crown – Prince Mohamed Tawfik, and many other celebrities and notables. The late Prof. Dr. S. A Huzayyin who presided over the society for almost three decades bestowed his personal library to the society and. Prof. M. S. Abulezz, the present-day president followed suit by donating a large collection of references, periodicals, atlases and statistical sources ……etc.

The exchange program of the library represents and incessant source of new acquisitions and additions which allowed the society to become acquainted with the most up-to-date and latest development in the discipline. However, the classical works of the pioneer scientists and geographers who spared no effort in unfolding the unknown about Egypt, still represent a considerable percentage of the invaluable possessions and heritage of the E.G.S. Such holdings represent the classical component of the library, particularly those concerned with the period of geographical discoveries of Africa, the equatorial regions of the Nile Basin, the Egyptian Deserts and Sinai peninsula. In addition, the board allocates annually appropriate funds for acquiring new publications and scientific works. Such a well-planned action for the development of the E.G.S. library has led to a marked increase in the number of its acquisitions to 35 thousand titles approximately excluding the very large collection of periodicals ( many of which date back to the beginning of the last century and some of which have ceased to be issued ) which now exceeds a thousand items. The percentage of current periodicals which are regularly acquired by the society is in the vicinity of 30% percent of this figure.

The library of the society has been reclassified according to Dewey decimal classification system. It is worth-noting that the society is now automating and storing all its holdings on computer to facilitate their handling . All information of the card index are automated and linked to the internet.

Also for the first time, the union list of periodicals of Egypt, (4Th ed.,1998) issued by the Egyptian national scientific &technical information net-work (Enstinent) of the academy of scientific research & technology, now include all the pertinent information about the periodicals of the society.

The library provides its services to both members and correspondents, and also to non-members such as geography under graduates and graduate students who can obtain the library card for a symbolic charge. The library regulations prohibit borrowing any of its possessions outside its premises and instead provides photocopying facilities. The library is open daily from 9:30 a.m to 14:30 p.m.