One of the oldest active libraries in the world is located in Damascus, which gives you an idea of the level of civilization the people of those times had attained. Established in 1277, it initially operated as a public school and now houses over 13,000 Islamic manuscripts. In Europe, the oldest functional library dates back only to 1289 — the Bibliothèque de la Sorbonne, which has grown alongside the famous university institution. Today, it serves five institutions of the University of Paris, with a collection of over 2.5 million volumes and tens of thousands of documents.