The International Federation of Library Association and Institutions (IFLA) has selected Qatar National Library (QNL), a member of Qatar Foundation, as the regional Arabic Speaking Preservation and Conservation Centre (PAC). The announcement came during the 81st IFLA General Conference and Assembly, in Cape Town, South Africa.
IFLA currently has a network of 13 PACs worldwide. The goal of the PAC strategic programme is to ensure that library and archive materials, published and unpublished, in all formats will be preserved in accessible form as long as possible according to IFLA PAC principles.
QNL will represent 25 countries in the Middle East and North Africa where Arabic is one of the official languages. Therefore, by serving as the PAC, QNL is supporting QF’s vision of protecting and, preserving the region’s heritage and culture, and making them accessible for future generations.
More discussions with the IFLA will take place for the PAC project activities. Currently, these mainly include workshops in Arabic and English on preventive and active conservation, production of web pages on the QNL portal in Arabic and English, and provision of free information in Arabic on preventive conservation, active conservation, digital preservation, and material providers.
Dr Joachim Gierlichs, QNL’s associate director for Special Collections and Archives, commented: “Qatar National Library is proud to become the first regional Arabic Speaking Preservation and Conservation Centre. This comes as a result of its continuous efforts in preserving Qatar and the wide region’s heritage.”
Saadi al-Said, QNL’s associate director for Administration and Planning, added: “This recognition is in-line with QNL’s national function to collect and provide access to global knowledge relevant to Qatar and the region. This centre will help QNL become a hub for the region’s heritage, and establish strong relations with other libraries in the region and beyond.”
The QNL/PAC centre is considered one of the prominent laboratories in the region. It is fully equipped with some of the most modern devices for book paper conservation treatment, including light tables, suction table, cutter, hydraulic press, leaf casting machine, drying racks, and fume hood for solvent treatment. The lab will also include a specific area devoted to biological risks in libraries and special microscopes for material analyses and identification.
QNL is also home of the Heritage Collection, which was founded in the early 1980s as part of Sheikh Hassan bin Mohamed bin Ali al-Thani’s vision to create, and make accessible, a landmark repository of Qatar and regional history in the heart of Doha. The Heritage Collection is a unique contribution to Qatar’s cultural landscape. Specifically, the Collection’s Early Arabic printing section contains some of the first Arabic books printed on presses in Shweir (Lebanon), Aleppo, Mosul, Bulaq, and in the Hijaz.
Some of the collections at QNL.
