Literature and classical works by prominent authors are popular and frequently checked out from the European collection at the Qatar National Library (QNL). Also translations of the Holy Quran and Hadith have also shown high circulation among Library users, said Jooza Al Marri, Collection Development Manager at Qatar National Library.
“Language learning books and resources are considered as some of the most sought-after topics by users in general. Among these, the European languages recorded the highest searches such as French, Spanish, German and Italian,” said Al Marri.
“Literature and classical works by prominent authors are frequently checked out by the library’s users, irrespective of the language these books are published in. Translations of the holy Quran and Hadith have also shown high circulation among Library users,” she told The Peninsula.
Jooza Al Marri
The European Union (EU) celebrates peace and unity in Europe on May 9 every year, following the famous unprecedented and revolutionary Schuman declaration in 1950, and is celebrated in Qatar every year. In regard with that Qatar National Library has highlighted its contribution towards building the European collection for its members and patrons.
The Library has been adding several European titles to its collection over the years, covering a many of topics including the rise of neo-nationalism in Europe, economic inequality in preindustrial times, innovation and education across several member states including France, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland and others.
These archived documents continue to share knowledge, inspiring and educating the youth across the Arab states and beyond.
At the Library, readers can find more than 50,000 academic journals, 11,000 magazines, 9,000 newspapers, 4,000 reports and more than 5,000 primary source documents, books, reviews, trade publications, biographies, eBooks and theses in European languages.
Subjects span across policies, international relations, economic integration, politics, trade, finance, education and government related matters.
“While English is the primary language for these items, our readers will also find texts in Arabic, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Turkish, Portuguese, Czech and several other European languages, providing wider accessibility. These items date back to 1916 and can provide our patrons with guidance on those reviewed by peers or available in the Library’s collection as well,” said Al Marri.
“Classical Arabic literature and awarded books that have been translated into European languages are available in the library too,” she added.
The Heritage Library also contains several books written in European languages along with early books in Latin. Some of these books, especially those on Arab-Islamic sciences written in Latin, were printed only a few years after Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing press in Europe in 1448. These early items that were printed in the 15th century are called incunabula.
“This section also includes writings by European travelers and explorers who visited the Arabian Gulf, the Arab world, and surrounding regions such as Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and India, over the centuries. Other well-established fields are the early European reception of Islamic and Arab sciences, early European translations and editions of the Quran, and early works of famous European scholars on the history, language, art and architecture, and religion of the Islamic world, establishing what later came to be known as Oriental studies,” said Al Marri.
“In our contemporary collections, the library will continue to refresh books in European Languages to fulfill the needs of community members. The library will also seek partnership opportunities of regional history and Islamic scholars’ works for the aim to preserve this heritage for generations to come,” she added.
The Library has hosted several exhibitions related to European countries, such as the Qatar-German Exhibition ‘Arab and German Tales — Transcending Cultures’, the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, Gardens of Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) Exhibition, Between East and West: Bibliotheca Angelica in Doha’ in collaboration with the Angelica Library of Rome in Italy and the Società Dante Alighieri and the Italian Embassy. The Library also participated in Europe’s first virtual Arabic book fair in August 2020.
