The edifice, which is due to be completed in 2020, will include stunning designs by the renowned Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron.
There will be 10 levels: six above ground and four below. It is being built on prime property next to the Knesset (parliament) and Israel Museum.
The National Library was founded in 1892 and is being redesigned to address the challenges of the 21st century. “The new building will enable NLI to provide state-of-the-art services to researchers, readers, visitors and online users, making accessible the millions of intellectual and cultural assets it has collected for more than 120 years,” an official statement said.
The Israeli government is partnering with the Rothschild family and New York’s Gottesman family to carry out the project. The new design will reflect the transformation from a library to a digital information hub, while preserving precious collections from the past.
