Doha

The Qatar National Library (QNL), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), attracted thousands of visitors at the recently held 26th Doha International Book Fair.

The QNL received over 1,500 new member registrations during the event. The QNL team hosted a range of interactive presentations and activities about the library’s wealth of learning resources including highlights of its digital resources, engaging events for children and families, and registration activities led by the library’s team.

Among the visitors in attendance were the event’s guest of honour, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who opened the ten-day Book Fair, HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, QF chairperson HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari, Algerian Minister of Culture, Azzedine Mihoubi, as well as other senior literary figures.

QNL supports the nation’s journey towards a knowledge-based economy by spreading knowledge, nurturing imagination, cultivating creativity and preserving the nation’s heritage for future generations. It does this by providing access to a wealth of resources through its exceptional selection of online databases, regular training programmes, and social engagement initiatives.

Gihan Baraka, head of QNL’s Library Relations and Communications, delivered an insightful presentation highlighting the role of social media in promoting the library’s various features such as the Qatar Digital Library (QDL), the library’s landmark initiative that grants access to a wealth of valuable online resources about the history of Qatar, the Arab and Muslim world, the Heritage Collection, QNL’s unique function as a metropolitan, research and national library, and QNL`s online databases, access to which is freely offered to members through the library`s website.

Saadi al-Said, director of Administration and Planning at QNL, said: “We are delighted with the number of attendees who visited our booth and registered for our online services and resources. It’s always an honour to participate in the Fair that has become a prestigious event on the international literary calendar.”

Al-Said, added: “Participation in the book fair greatly helps QNL with encouraging people from all walks of life in Qatar to use the library’s state-of-the-art learning resources and engage in various community engagement activities. We look forward to our continuous participation in this brilliant national event.”