In the mid-1990s, the library began to acquire collections of personal papers, like those of Egypt’s leading 20th century architect Hassan Fathy. From that time the library made steady acquisitions of archival resources documenting the artistic, cultural, intellectual, political, and social life of modern Egypt. Holdings include the private papers of pioneering Egyptian feminist Huda Sha'arawi, the writings of Egyptian journalist Anis Mansour, the papers of Coptic musicologist Ragheb Moftah.