The first forum of National Libraries of the Arab World began in Rabat on Monday. This forum is aimed at increasing co-operation of regional library systems, in a period of modernization and digitization. As part of the conference Morocco will lead a guided tour of the country’s National Library.
Attending the conference are delegations from a number of different nations within the MENA region including Jordan, the UAE, Tunisia, Djibouti, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Qatar, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Yemen and Morocco as the host country.
In a speech he delivered on behalf of Ghizlane Dous, the Director of Books, Libraries, and Archives at his ministry, Youth, Culture, and Communications Minister Mehdi Bensaid said: “More than ever it is up to us to strengthen collective action exchange expertise and develop a common vision to modernise and develop our national libraries expand their services and consolidate their role.”
Bensaid recognized that the library service is important both for the academic and cultural identity of the nation. The main conference is designed to strengthen the collective and co-ordinated action of the nations in the region, to strengthen libraries’ role as dynamic hubs of knowledge and culture.
Spotlighting Morocco’s cultural heritage
The forum was organized by the government in collaboration with ALESCO, UNESCO, BNRM and MarocNatCom.
One of its main aims was to protect Morocco’s national heritage and preserve the country’s cultural heritage within the government’s sustainable development initiatives. Documents and books are able to hold important documentary heritage for the foundation of studies based on cultural research.
Another crucial aspect of the conference was to discuss the threats posed by emerging technologies such as AI in the heritage sector and the current nature of digitization in the MENA national libraries.
“We find ourselves at a diverse moment for libraries memory institutions and more broadly for the preservation of our documentary heritage, UNESCO has been warning states for several years about the growing threat of AI in all areas of society,” noted Eric Falt, the head of the UNESCO office for the Maghreb in Rabat.
Meanwhile, the secretary general of the National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, Karim Mamidouche, highlighted the need to take into account the technological and ethical challenges posed by AI in the current context of the global digital revolution.
According to guest delegations and the hist authorities, this forum was a very important platform to discuss a wide range of modern issues both within Morocco and the MENA region.
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