(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A Dh1 billion contract has been approved for the construction of Mohammed bin Rashid Library - the biggest cultural project in the Arab world - by Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance, and Chairman of the Dubai Municipality.
Construction work on the library will commence this month, and will be completed by mid-2018. Designed in the shape of an open book on a lectern, the 7-storey building will host over 100 events every year, a permanent art gallery, and host institutions that support Arabic language content development. It will also have a centre for conservation and restoration of books, manuscripts and documents and a civilisation museum. Hussein Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality, said the library is the most valuable cultural and knowledge gift presented by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to the future generations. Housing, imparting knowledge The project was announced by Shaikh Mohammed at the launch of the Year of Reading 2016, declared by the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Six pillars constitute the library and its mission: the main and specialised libraries; encouraging reading; spreading content; supporting authoring and translation; protecting the Arabic Language, and preserving cultural heritage. It will also print and distribute 10 million books to be distributed to people in need. The eight specialised libraries are to be categorised as Children, Youth, Family, Business, Arabic, International, Popular and Multimedia. Share
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