On the eve of the new soft opening of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Ismail Serageldin hosted some 70 of Egypts leading intellectuals in for a dialogue on the future of the Library and what their thoughts were on what it should do for them and for Egypt. The meeting, organized by the Supreme Council for Culture, the Egyptian Association of Friends of the Library of Alexandria (EAFLA), and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina itself, was deemed a great success by almost all participants. Serageldin made the opening presentation, and then sat attentively through the two days of discussions, and noted many of the suggestions being proposed. He promised to reflect on them in the design of the program. Several of the eminent persons in attendance subsequently wrote columns in Egypts leading papers expressing their views.