The Round Reading Room in the British Museum will rise from the ashes

CAIRO- 5 JULY 2017: The British Museum’s reading room is being brought to life through a 10-year project restoring the space to exhibit its timeless permanent collection.

Hartwig Fischer, the museum’s director, revealed the plan to refurbish the room without closing down, unlike the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, as it remains one of the leading tourist attractions in London.

The Round Reading Room in the British Museum is a primary component of revamping the space after the parting of its book collection to the British Library in 1997.

Aside from the refurbishment of the reading room, the museum plans on renewing the display of its Egyptian collection and the Japanese art galleries. The museum will also open a new gallery exhibiting the works of China and South Asia.

Fischer told The Guardian, “In a fast-changing and sometimes troubled world, the museum has to continue to play its part in explaining the connectivity of cultures and our shared human identity.”