Qatar National Library (QNL) is a cornerstone of Qatar's cultural and educational landscape. It serves as a catalyst for intellectual growth, research, cultural preservation, and community engagement, playing a vital role in the development of a knowledgeable and inclusive society.
The library plays a vital role in preserving Qatar's and the region’s cultural heritage. It houses rare and valuable collections, including historical documents and manuscripts that showcase the region's history and heritage. By preserving and safeguarding these materials, the library ensures their accessibility for future generations, promoting cultural continuity and understanding.
QNL’s collaboration with the British Library in digitising millions of historical collections from the region including documents, maps, photos and other noteworthy things like manuscripts and audio files is one such project where the library is playing a crucial role in preserving the information for the future generations and also provides easy access to these troves of valuable information to researchers, students, and enthusiasts from all over the world.
The ongoing partnership between the two libraries, which is in its fourth phase, saw the digitisation of over 2.4 million historical collections from the Arabian Gulf region. The project, launched in July 2012, is digitising the British Library’s collections relating to the history of Qatar, the Gulf, medieval Arab science and medicine, and other cultural spheres. The material includes music, maps, ships’ logs, reports, letters, private papers (including the Curzon Papers), and historical publications.
QNL, a hub for knowledge, learning, and research, provides a vast collection of books, periodicals, manuscripts, and digital resources, covering diverse subjects and disciplines. QNL has increased its digital offerings over time and its resources have been gaining popularity among users.
Recognising the significance of digital resources in the modern era, the QNL provides extensive online access to digital collections, e-books, databases, newspapers, magazines and research tools. This accessibility promotes inclusivity and enables people from different backgrounds and locations to benefit from the library's resources and services.
QNL’s online resources boast 634,519 ebooks, 230 databases, 13 children's and young adults' databases, and 16,780 journals. The Arabic resources comprise 36,641 ebooks and 4,243 journals. They also have interactive educational games, and audio and video streaming among others.
Dissemination of knowledge to all and preservation of the same is very important for any society to thrive and to bring up a responsible future generation which is aware and respectful of their culture and mindful of the sacrifices the community had to undertake. QNL plays a crucial role in promoting Qatar's heritage and national identity.
