Qatar National Library

Qatar National Library
مكتبة قطر الوطنية
Qatar National Library in Education City in 2016
Map
25°19′06″N 51°26′29″E / 25.3182597°N 51.4412944°E / 25.3182597; 51.4412944y
LocationAr Rayyan, Qatar
EstablishedNovember 19, 2012 (2012-11-19)
Architect(s)Rem Koolhaas
Access and use
Circulationa
Other information
Parent organizationQatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development
Public transit accessQatar National Library station (Doha Metro)
Websiteqnl.qa

Qatar National Library (QNL) is a non-profit organization under the umbrella of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.[1] The plans for the new national library were announced by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, on 19 November 2012, during a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Dar Al Kutub Al Qatariyya, in Doha, Qatar, one of the first public libraries in the Persian Gulf region (founded on 29 December 1962), which had until then been regarded as the national library of Qatar.[2][3]

QNL aims to serve a three-fold function: as a national library, a research-level university library, and a central metropolitan public library equipped for the digital age.[1][2] In its capacity as a national library as defined by UNESCO, it collects and provides access to global knowledge, including heritage content and materials relevant to Qatar and the region; as a university and research library, it supports education and research at all levels; and as a modern central public library, it provides library services and resources to meet the reading interests and foster the information literacy of the general public. In addition, with the opening of the new building, it also serves as a community meeting place.[1][2] The building was designed by Rem Koolhaas of OMA and opened in April 2018 alongside events, seminars and exhibitions.[4][5]

Claudia Lux, a German scholar and library professional, was appointed by the Qatar Foundation to be the director of the library project in April 2012, and initially oversaw the launch of QNL as a digital library.[6][7] Meanwhile, construction began on a new building for the library in Education City, a district in Doha that was developed by Qatar Foundation as a center of higher education, and now includes branch campuses of six American universities, as well as other educational and research institutions.[8][9]

In October 2016, Dr. Sohair Wastawy was appointed as Executive Director of QNL, to which she brought 30 years of library managerial experience.[10]

In 2020, the QNL joined the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Sciences Services (SCOSS).[11] During the COVID-19 pandemic the QNL was closed to the public, but reopened in July 2020.[12][13] In 2022, 296,456 books were checked out in the library, which was 113,313 more than in 2021.[14] An app allowing visitors to access various resources of the library was introduced in 2023.[15][16]

  1. ^ a b c Qatar National Library. "About the library Archived 2017-09-09 at the Wayback Machine." Retrieved 2014-12-14.
  2. ^ a b c Lux, Claudia (2014). "Qatar National Library – Architecture as innovation in the Arab world." International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Journal, 40(3), 174-181; here: 176. Retrieved 2014-12-13 from http://www.ifla.org/publications/ifla-journal.
  3. ^ "Dar al-Kutub al-Qatariyya -- Qatar". librarytechnology.org. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  4. ^ "OMA To Design "Iconic" Qatar National Library". ArchDaily. 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  5. ^ Newspaper, The Peninsula (2018-04-15). "With one million books on shelves, Qatar National Library official opening tomorrow". thepeninsulaqatar.com. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  6. ^ "Qatar residents gain access to Springer's e-books and online journals" (2013 November 5). Information World Review, 7.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lux178 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Hamilton, Reeve (2012 May 24). "Class of 2012 in Qatar savors the College Station connection." New York Times.
  9. ^ "Education, City". www.astad.qa. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  10. ^ "Qatar National Library Announces New Executive Director | Qatar National Library". qnl.qa. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  11. ^ "QNL president hails library's role at the global level". Gulf Times. 2020-08-23. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  12. ^ "Qatar Foundation announces work from home, QNL closed to the public". thepeninsulaqatar.com. 2020-03-12. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  13. ^ "Qatar National Library to partially reopen on July 15". Doha News | Qatar. 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  14. ^ "Qatar National Library sees increase in use of audio and e-books". thepeninsulaqatar.com. 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  15. ^ "Qatar National Library app receives overwhelming response". thepeninsulaqatar.com. 2023-07-08. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  16. ^ Turqueza, Lalaine (2023-02-26). "Qatar National Library Launches Innovative Mobile App". Marhaba Qatar. Retrieved 2024-04-30.