Between 1838 and 1850, a building for the Sainte-Geneviève Library was designed and constructed under the direction of the architect Henri Labrouste. He was given the project in 1838, but construction did not commence until August, 1843. The building was complete in December 1850, and opened to the public on February 4, 1851. The glass and iron reading room has been described as "magisterial" and the building itself as a seminal work in the creation of the modern library as "a temple of knowledge and space for contemplation". The names of 810 illustrious scholars are inscribed on the building's facade