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DUBAI: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has issued Law No. 14 of 2016 establishing the Mohammad Bin Rashid Library as a public institution.

Shaikh Mohammad also issued Decree No. 36 of 2016 on the formation of the board of directors of the MBR Library Foundation.

The board will be chaired by former Federal National Council speaker Mohammad Ahmad Al Murr, and it is tasked with drawing up general policies and strategic plans required to deliver the library’s objectives. The foundation will run the library and promote the organisation locally, regionally and globally. Members of the board will serve a three-year term, subject to renewal.

The other board members are Hussain Nasser Lootah as vice-chairman, Dr Mohammad Salim Al Mazroui, Ebrahim Ahmad Al Hashemi, Saeed Mohammad Al Atter Al Dhahani, Yasser Saeed Hareb Al Mahiri, Najlaa Saif Al Shamsi, Jamal Ebrahim Al Shahi, Ozobil Francis Grade, Malik Sultan Al Malik, in addition to the CEO of the library.

The Dh1-billion library, launched by Shaikh Mohammad last February, will feature more than 1.5 million volumes, one million audio books and two million e-books, making it the world’s largest electronic collection and the biggest library in the Arab world.

Spread over one million square feet, the facility which will include eight specialised libraries, will be able to accommodate 42 million visitors annually and will host over 100 annual cultural events.

“We want this library to serve as a cultural forum, an incubator for knowledge and a civilisational centre in the region,” said Shaikh Mohammad, adding that the library would contribute towards promotion of reading and transformation of culture and turn it into a community product that would advance national development.

He directed the foundation to start setting up the cultural structure of the library so that it becomes the Arab World’s largest knowledge incubator.

“The knowledge provided by the library will encourage the movement of authoring and translation, bring intellectuals and thinkers closer, and spread the culture of dialogue, tolerance and acceptance of others,” he added.

The new law defines the library’s objectives as supporting and strengthening the UAE’s comprehensive cultural and knowledge strategy, upgrading the cultural knowledge in the Arab World, providing the audio, print and electronic content to reach out to the largest possible number of global readers and instilling the love for reading and curiosity in children and generations to come.

The library also aims to organise various forums for writers, intellectuals, translators and researchers from around the world and contribute to preserving and enriching the Arabic language content by motivating writers, intellectuals and translators to support the Arabic intellectual production.

Commenting on the law, Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance, said “ The MBR Library will serve as a knowledge incubator that enriches the cultural and scientific content of tolerance.

“The library will play pivotal roles in protecting the Arabic language and supporting authoring and translation. It will maintain our cultural heritage and promote the reading culture, as it will feature a main library and specialised ones. It will also support the Arabic content and the international knowledge content by providing valuable books and useful researches across all scientific areas.”

The chairman of the MBR Library Foundation may issue necessary decisions to ensure the implementation of the law.

Here’s why the Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rahid Library is a big deal. 

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The board will be chaired by former Federal National Council speaker Mohammad Ahmad Al Murr. Image Credit: Gulf News Archives
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