In pics: Sheikh Mohammed inaugurates Dhs1bn ‘Mohammed bin Rashid Library’

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the Mohammed bin Rashid Library.

Built with an investment of Dhs1bn, the library aims to cultivate a culture of reading, while supporting the development of creativity, knowledge and art at both at an individual and social level.

. @HHShkMohd inaugurates AED1 billion ‘Mohammed bin Rashid Library’, the new cultural beacon in the region includes nine specialised libraries, over 1 million print and digital books, and more than 6 million research articles. #Dubai pic.twitter.com/aNNQDA6JFI

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) June 14, 2022

The library aims to help people with various interests, especially youth, to access printed and digital books, and will officially open to the public on Thursday, June 16, 2022.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said, “Today we launch a cultural and intellectual edifice for our new generations, through which we aim to promote reading, spread knowledge and support researchers and scientists. Our goal is to illuminate the human mind.”

“The economy needs knowledge, politics needs wisdom, nations need to learn, and all of that can be found in books. Through this library, we have brought together millions of books to develop our path, consolidate our identity, culture and roots, and create our future.”

Across its seven floors, the Mohammed bin Rashid Library features more than 1.1 million printed and digital books in Arabic and foreign languages, over six million dissertations, around 73,000 music scores, 75,000 videos, approximately 13,000 articles, and more than 5,000 historical print and digital journals within an archive covering 325 years, along with about 35,000 print and digital newspapers from around the world, and nearly 500 rare collectibles.

Mohammed Al Murr, chairman of the board of directors at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library Foundation, said, “The library is a significant and inspiring milestone among national initiatives. It showcases the history and culture of the UAE and the Arab world, adding a new dimension to the UAE’s knowledge-based economy, helping to redefine the concept of libraries in the 21st-century, setting future trends for the next-generation of technology-augmented libraries.”

The library is part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), and has been designed in the form of a wooden stand known as ‘Rahl’, with a total area of 581,903 sq ft.

It has nine specialised libraries including The General Library, The Emirates Library, The Young Adults Library, The Children’s Library, The Special Collection Library, The Maps and Atlases Library, The Media and Arts Library, The Business Library and The Periodical Library. Its facilities include an automated storage and electronic book retrieval system, self-service kiosks, a book digitisation laboratory, and smart robots to respond to visitors’ inquiries, in addition to augmented and virtual reality technologies, among others, official news agency WAM reported.

The library is also environmentally friendly, receiving 10 per cent of its energy from solar panels installed on the roof of the building.

The external structure is designed to insulate the building’s interior, help regulate its international environment and reduce heat gain. The library has access to natural lighting due to ceiling windows, and is also designed to reduce water consumption by 50 per cent.

Water is recycled from air conditioners to irrigate green spaces.