A new multilingual library is being planned for Abu Dhabi, with branches in several locations throughout the emirate, both in the Eastern and the Western regions.
According to Jumaa Al Qubaisi, Director of the National Library here, the decision to create a new reading environment came as a result of the popularity the existing library had here.
‘Last year alone, we had more than 100,000 readers in the library. Keeping in mind that Abu Dhabi is a relatively small city, this is a great number,’ Al Qubaisi told Khaleej Times.
He added that the readers’ interests varied from literature to technical studies such as IT and science.
The new library would not be completed before 2011 and its exact location has not been decided either. ‘We will open the main branch either here at the Cultural Foundation or somewhere else in the city, depending on where we find the best space,’ mentioned Al Qubaisi.
Like the existing National Library, the new one would also belong to the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.
‘There will be nothing traditional about the new library but will have plenty of different things, meant to attract especially the younger generation to book reading. We will go to malls, where young people like to spend their time, and to schools and universities. We even thought of book caravans and book reading evenings,’ said Al Qubaisi.
The new library would take the best from the various trends in the book market throughout the world, including the highly intellectual European ones, the semi-commercial Anglo-American trends and the lesser-known Asian market.
‘We travelled to nine countries around the world, starting with the US and ending with Singapore, in order to set up our new library,’ revealed Al Qubaisi.
As for the content of the library, he said there would be no restrictions on books, subjects and titles. ‘The only censorship we will impose will be on pornographic material and books that are preaching hate among either human beings or religions,’ he added.
Al Qubaisi hoped that by improving the reading habits among Abu Dhabi people and generally developing the book market here, the bookshops too would be inspired to diversify their titles and subjects which, at the moment, had severe gaps in both Arabic and English language sections. Source
According to Jumaa Al Qubaisi, Director of the National Library here, the decision to create a new reading environment came as a result of the popularity the existing library had here.
‘Last year alone, we had more than 100,000 readers in the library. Keeping in mind that Abu Dhabi is a relatively small city, this is a great number,’ Al Qubaisi told Khaleej Times.
He added that the readers’ interests varied from literature to technical studies such as IT and science.
The new library would not be completed before 2011 and its exact location has not been decided either. ‘We will open the main branch either here at the Cultural Foundation or somewhere else in the city, depending on where we find the best space,’ mentioned Al Qubaisi.
Like the existing National Library, the new one would also belong to the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.
‘There will be nothing traditional about the new library but will have plenty of different things, meant to attract especially the younger generation to book reading. We will go to malls, where young people like to spend their time, and to schools and universities. We even thought of book caravans and book reading evenings,’ said Al Qubaisi.
The new library would take the best from the various trends in the book market throughout the world, including the highly intellectual European ones, the semi-commercial Anglo-American trends and the lesser-known Asian market.
‘We travelled to nine countries around the world, starting with the US and ending with Singapore, in order to set up our new library,’ revealed Al Qubaisi.
As for the content of the library, he said there would be no restrictions on books, subjects and titles. ‘The only censorship we will impose will be on pornographic material and books that are preaching hate among either human beings or religions,’ he added.
Al Qubaisi hoped that by improving the reading habits among Abu Dhabi people and generally developing the book market here, the bookshops too would be inspired to diversify their titles and subjects which, at the moment, had severe gaps in both Arabic and English language sections. Source
No comments:
Post a Comment