Fieldtrip to the Sorbonne-- Abu Dhabi style

Last week my coworkers and I were invited to visit the library at the new Sorbonne campus here in Abu Dhabi. I never guessed it would be a project just getting there.
  A van from our university drove us through downtown Abu Dhabi and out to Reem Island in about half an hour. In a matter of minutes we went from the heart of the city to an expansive, empty construction site. The Sorbonne is the first building to open on Reem Island, so everything else is open space right now.
                                               

After crossing the bridge onto the Island, we found ourselves on dirt roads and wondered why you need speedbumps in a construction zone. Vague directions brought us to the vicinity of the campus, so we got out of the van and started walking...

and walking past some workers in line for lunch
(See queue behind the fence)

Until we got closer to what appeared to be the main entrance...

which it was.

The dome, residence halls, and other buildings are still under construction.

And inside, the library is finished: large open spaces of seating for students and new furniture everywhere. We toured the space and enjoyed lunch together with some other librarians from the Abu Dhabi area . The library already has 50,000 volumes, most of which are in French. I have some work to do to catch up to them!