His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, accompanied by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), opened the “House of Wisdom” building, an innovative cultural project that embodies the latest model for future libraries in the world. The history of Sharjah’s acquisition of the title of the World Book Capital by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2019 is documented, as it is considered a living legacy of Sharjah obtaining the highest cultural title.
His Highness Sheikh Sultan toured the entire premises with his first stop at the huge library housed in the “House of Wisdom”, which will contain 305 thousand books in various fields of culture, literary works and other bodies of knowledge, of which 11 thousand are in different languages, including 105 thousand paper books and nearly 200 thousand electronic books.
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The Ruler of Sharjah also inspected the facilities and laboratories allocated by the “House of Wisdom” for visitors, as His Highness recognized the self-service station “espresso books”, which is characterized by its ability and high speed to print books in a record period, and provided by the House of Wisdom to enable visitors to print any book.
His Highness learned from those in charge of the project how the “House of Wisdom” embodied his vision of presenting a model for libraries that integrates in an innovative way the concepts of the library and the social and cultural forum, and turns it into a social platform for learning and knowledge, reinforced by innovation tools and advanced technologies. It contains more than 2000 books, and the Library for Young People, which contains about 3000 books.
At the end of the tour, His Highness, the Ruler of Sharjah, inspected the Rasheed Hall, dedicated to hosting events, seminars and conferences. His Highness also visited the corridors of the outer courtyard of the “House of Wisdom”, which includes landscaped gardens that include 331 trees belonging to 12 different species, overlooking the “manuscript” memorial in celebration. Sharjah was chosen as the World Book Capital for the year 2019 by UNESCO, and His Highness took a souvenir photo with the House of Wisdom team in front of the building in the outdoor square.
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Spanning an area of over 12,000 square feet, the House of Wisdom offers a new experience for readers and researchers in the United Arab Emirates and the region, as it opens its doors to hundreds of thousands of books, documents and knowledge materials preserved within an architectural masterpiece that relies on natural lighting in its design.
Visitors can wander around the areas within a living garden surrounded by bookshelves, living the reading experience in open interactive spaces, and moving in lobbies and halls equipped with the latest modern technology, through which they can print and package any book in a few minutes.
