Iran library, glory of Islamic world

Qatar’s Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Hamad Bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari has described Iran’s National Library and Archives as the glory of the Islamic world.

Al Kuwari, who visited the library on January 24, 2011, said the center was the “cultural and academic heritage of Iranians” that could have a significant role in connecting Iran and other countries.

“Great nations care about books and Iran is one of those nations since it is concerned about books and libraries,” he wrote in the memorial notebook of the library.

Al Kuwari also expressed his hope for further cultural cooperation between the national libraries of Iran and Qatar, Mehr News Agency reported.

“We will try our best to set up a Qatar chamber at Iran’s National Library and Archives after we reach an agreement with Iranian officials,” he said.

The National Library of Iran was officially inaugurated in 1937 and houses different collections from older libraries, including many rare and valuable manuscripts.

Spanning an area of over 90,000 square meters, the library is one of the largest library campuses in the Middle East, which includes five separate halls, each dedicated to a different faculty, including Humanities, Social Sciences, Law and Health Studies.

Al Kuwari invited Iran to be the guest of honor at the 2011 edition of the Doha International Book Fair.

The Qatari minister also visited the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts where he had meetings with the Iranian Deputy Culture Minister for Artistic Affairs Hamid Shahabadi and museum curator Mahmoud Shaloui.