The Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the region’s biggest library in Dubai, the Mohammed bin Rashid Library.
The library will be officially opened to the public on Thursday, 16 June.
The library has been constructed with an investment of AED1 billion and strives to cultivate a culture of reading while supporting the growth of creativity, knowledge and art at both social and individual levels.
It will provide the perfect platform for intellectuals, literary and imaginative minds around the region and the world.
Sheikh Mohammed stated, “Today, we establish a cultural and intellectual edifice for our new generations, via which we strive to encourage reading, spread knowledge and support researchers and scientists. Our goal is to inspire the human mind.”
The library is well-equipped with modern technologies and facilities, including artificial intelligence, automated storage and electronic book retrieval system, a book digitisation laboratory, self-service kiosks, intelligent robots to react to visitors’ inquiries, and virtual reality technologies, among others.
افتتحنا بحمدالله اليوم "مكتبة محمد بن راشد" … صرح للعلم ومنارة للمعرفة.. تضم ٩ مكتبات تخصصية .. وأكثر من مليون كتاب .. و٦ ملايين أطروحة بحثية .. وتكلفت مليار درهم .. هدفنا ترسيخ هويتنا وثقافتنا وفكرنا .. وصنع مستقل أجيالنا pic.twitter.com/UYmAjQIhjr
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) June 13, 2022
The Mohammed bin Rashid Library strives to support people with different interests, especially youth, to access digital and printed books to shape an Arab generation that comprehends the role of reading and culture in the development of society.
The library has nine specialised libraries, seven floors, and features a significant amount of content. It also includes over 1.1 million printed and digital books in Foreign and Arabic languages, more than 6 million dissertations, around 73,000 music scores, 75,000 videos, about 13,000 articles and over 5,000 historical print and digital journals within an archieve covering as many as 325 years, along with around 35,000 print and digital newspapers from worldwide and nearly 500 rare collectables.
The building has been made in the form of a wooden stand called a ‘rahl’, with approximately an area of 54,000 square metres.
