Central Library Cairo University

What Central Library Cairo University does

The Central Library Cairo University is a government educational institution and constituent unit of Cairo University that operates the digital library access management infrastructure for the Egyptian public higher education system. Its core product is a Library Access Database System that tracks visitors, manages student and faculty records, and supports student clearance requests across 26+ Egyptian universities and 110+ faculties, spanning study levels from preparatory through doctoral research. The platform is built on a XAMPP development stack (Apache 2.4.58, MariaDB 10.4.32, PHP 8.2.12) with phpMyAdmin for database administration, and the server hosts multiple academic databases including library_access_db, college_timetable, cu_theses, digital_repository, and university_management. The system is hosted on the cl.cu.edu.eg domain under Cairo University's IT services.

The library serves three primary user segments: undergraduate students from year 1 through year 5 accessing study resources; graduate researchers (master's and doctoral) requiring thesis and research repository access; and library administrators managing visitor registration, clearance, and hall allocation. Distribution is institutional — physical access through campus library facilities and digital access through university portals — rather than commercial. The entity does not generate revenue and operates as a public service with no commercial pricing, no funding rounds, no private equity or venture capital involvement, and only 8 listed employees. The public-facing web pages expose the default XAMPP welcome screens, which the Apache Friends project explicitly flags as a development-only configuration and not production-ready.

Name

Central Library Cairo University

Legal name

Central Library Cairo University

Website

https://cl.cu.edu.eg

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Central Library Cairo University is a government library unit of Cairo University that operates a multi-university library access and visitor management database serving 26+ Egyptian public universities, 110+ faculties, and students from preparatory through doctoral levels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Library Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (519210), Computer Facilities Management Services (541513)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAEAGAB

Academic & Research Library Operations (College/University Libraries)

Education/Education Facilities & Support Services/Library, Media Center & Learning Space Operations

SECONDARYEDAEAGAF

Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing)

Education/Education Facilities & Support Services/Library, Media Center & Learning Space Operations

SECONDARYEDAEAGAL

Library User Services & Information Support (Reference, Research Help, Instruction Support)

Education/Education Facilities & Support Services/Library, Media Center & Learning Space Operations

SECONDARYEDAEAGAD

Special Libraries (Law, Medical, Corporate, Government) Operations

Education/Education Facilities & Support Services/Library, Media Center & Learning Space Operations

Keywords

• Library management systems
• Academic library services
• University digital infrastructure
• Library access management
• Higher education databases

Headquarters

HQ city

Giza

HQ country

Egypt

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Central Library Cairo University operates a library access management system built on a XAMPP (Apache + MariaDB + PHP) development stack. The system tracks library visitors across 26+ Egyptian universities and 110+ faculties, managing visitor registration with national ID and photo verification, student records, faculty data, and study-level classifications spanning preparatory through doctoral research. It also supports integrated databases for theses, timetables, digital repositories, inventory, and university-wide management functions.

Product overview

The Central Library Cairo University operates a library access management system built on a XAMPP (Apache + MariaDB + PHP) development stack. The system includes a database management component (phpMyAdmin) and is designed to track library visitors, manage university and faculty data, and record study levels for academic institutions across Egypt.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Library Access Database System A comprehensive library visitor management system that tracks student and researcher access across 26+ Egyptian universities, 110+ faculties, and 9 study levels. The system manages visitor registration with national ID and photo verification, university and faculty data, and study-level classifications from preparatory through doctoral research. It is designed for use by students, researchers, and library administrators across the Egyptian higher education system.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Cairo UniversitycoreOthersCairo University operates and hosts the Central Library digital infrastructure, providing institutional support for library access management across the university and its partner institutions in the Egyptian higher education system.
• 26 Egyptian Universities ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe library access database system serves 26 Egyptian universities including Cairo University, Ain Shams University, Alexandria University, and others, enabling cross-university library resource sharing and visitor access management.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• FOLIO Library Platform: FOLIO is an open-source library services platform developed by a global consortium of academic libraries. It is comparable to the Central Library as an open, multi-institutional library platform with modular services, and represents the type of next-gen system the Central Library could evolve toward.

Others

• EBSCO Information Services: EBSCO provides research databases, e-journals, and discovery services (EBSCO Discovery Service) widely used by academic libraries including in Egypt. It is comparable as an adjacent information-services provider supporting the same academic user base that the Central Library serves.
• ProQuest (Clarivate): ProQuest supplies dissertations/theses databases and research content heavily used by university libraries for graduate research support. It is comparable as a thesis/research-repository content provider serving the same master's/doctoral researcher segment that the Central Library's cu_theses database targets.

Broad incumbents

• OCLC: OCLC operates WorldCat and library cooperation services used by academic libraries worldwide for cataloging, resource sharing, and discovery. It is comparable as a provider of shared library infrastructure spanning multiple institutions, akin to the cross-university scope of the Central Library system.
• Innovative (Innovative Interfaces, part of Clarivate): Innovative provides the Sierra and Polaris library services platforms to academic and public libraries. It is comparable to the Central Library as a vendor of integrated library management solutions serving multi-institution consortia.
• Ex Libris (Clarivate): Ex Libris provides Alma and other integrated library management platforms widely used by academic and research libraries. It is a broad incumbent operating in the same academic-library system space where the Central Library competes or could partner, but at a global, commercial scale.
• SirsiDynix: SirsiDynix delivers BLUEcloud, Symphony, and Horizon library management platforms for academic and public libraries. It is comparable to the Central Library in delivering library access and catalog functionality at multi-institution scale, but as an established commercial vendor.

Direct peers

• Koha Library Software: Koha is the leading open-source integrated library management system, used by academic and public libraries globally for catalog, circulation, and patron management. It is a direct functional peer to the Central Library's visitor/student access management functionality, with similar open-source ethos and lower-cost deployment profile.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clcu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Central Library Cairo University