'Mohammed bin Rashid Library' biggest cultural project in Arab World
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance, and Chairman of Dubai Municipality, has approved the awarding of a Dh1 billion contract for the construction of the Mohammed bin Rashid Library, the biggest cultural project in the Arab world.
Construction work will commence in September 2016 and be completed by mid-2018.
The 650,000 square feet property can facilitate 42 million visitors annually and will house more than 4.5 million printed, digital and audio books.
The library will include eight specialised libraries, 1.5 million printed books, two million digital books and one million audio books.
Designed in the shape of an open book on a lectern, the seven-storey building will host over 100 cultural and cognitive events every year, a permanent art gallery, and a home for specialised institutions that support development of the Arabic language content.
The library includes a centre for conservation and restoration of books, manuscripts and documents, a special library for the Al Maktoum collection and a civilisation museum.
Hussein Nasser Lootah, Director-General of Dubai Municipality, stated that the library is the most valuable cultural and knowledge gift presented by Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for generations to come.
Lootah said the library has six pillars of wisdom that constitutes its message and distinguishes its mission: the libraries; encouraging reading; spreading content; supporting authoring and translation; protecting the Arabic Language, and preserving cultural heritage.
The project was announced by Sheikh Mohammed at the launch of the Year of Reading, declared for 2016 by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
"The library will significantly harness modern technology to serve scientific research, dissemination of knowledge and advanced sciences. It will be a world a credible reference in Arabic language and a destination for specialists, scientists, researchers, writers, poets, intellectuals, talented minds and students. It will also serve as an incubation for publishers," Lootah declared.
WAM
