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| Lebanese National Library | |
|---|---|
| Name | Lebanese National Library |
| Native name | المكتبة الوطنية اللبنانية |
| Established | 1921 |
| Location | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Collection size | ≈1,000,000 items |
| Director | (various directors historically) |
Lebanese National Library The Lebanese National Library is the principal national repository located in Beirut, established to collect, preserve, and provide access to the documentary heritage of Lebanon and the wider Levant. It has played a role in national identity alongside institutions such as the American University of Beirut, Saint Joseph University, Beirut Arab University, National Museum of Beirut, and international partners like the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the British Library. The library’s trajectory intersects with events including the First World War, the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, the Lebanese Civil War, and postwar reconstruction efforts involving the United Nations and the European Union.
The institution’s origins trace to initiatives by figures and bodies such as Alexandretta intellectuals, the French High Commissioner in Syria and Lebanon, and Lebanese scholars associated with Beirut College for Women and the Phoenicia revival movement. During the interwar period it interacted with archives from the Ottoman Empire, donors from Alexandria, and collections assembled by families like the Sursock family and the Gemayel family. The collection suffered damage during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War refugee flows and later during the 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War, when holdings were affected by shelling in central districts near Martyr’s Square and storage disruptions tied to the Green Line. Postwar restoration involved coordination with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, and cultural diplomacy with the Italian Ministry of Culture and France–Lebanon relations initiatives. Drafts of legal deposit laws referenced models from the Library of Congress, Biblioteca Nacional de España, and the National Library of Israel as Lebanon debated intellectual property and cultural heritage statutes influenced by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Berne Convention.
Holdings encompass printed books, periodicals, manuscripts, maps, photographs, posters, and audiovisual materials drawn from sources such as the Ottoman Archives, the Syrian National Archives, private papers of personalities like Rashid Karami, Hussein Beyhum, and families including Khalil Gibran’s correspondents and collections tied to Gibran Khalil Gibran’s milieu. The library holds rare incunabula reflecting trade through Alexandria, lithographs from Cairo, and travelogues by visitors such as Mark Sykes, Gertrude Bell, and T.E. Lawrence. Periodicals include runs from An-Nahar, L’Orient-Le Jour, Al-Bayrak, and international titles like The Times and Le Monde. Cartographic collections reference the Sykes–Picot Agreement territories, Ottoman cadastral maps, and maps used in studies of Greater Syria. Music archives contain scores tied to Fairuz and the Rahbani family; photographic archives include negatives from studios linked to Zaven and Sarkis Mazloum. Legal deposit materials reflect works published in Beirut, Tripoli, Sidon, Saida, and the Bekaa Valley.
The library’s housing has shifted among buildings in central Beirut near Hamra and Achrafieh and proposals referred to architects trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition and modernists influenced by Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer. Damage during the 1982 Lebanon War and the 1990 Battle of Souk El Gharb precipitated reconstruction plans coordinated with urban planners from the Council for Development and Reconstruction (Lebanon), engineers from ENKA, and conservationists from the International Council on Monuments and Sites. Proposed sites invoked proximity to cultural anchors such as the Royal Palace, the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral (Beirut), and the planned cultural district adjacent to the Mim Museum. Architectural discussions referenced seismic retrofitting standards advocated by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Governance has involved ministries and agencies including the Ministry of Culture (Lebanon), the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research (Lebanon), and municipal authorities in Beirut. Advisory relationships have connected the library to academic institutions like Haigazian University and to networks including the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, the Arab Federation for Libraries and Information, and collaborations with the French Institute of the Near East. Funding and legal frameworks referenced statutes in the Chamber of Deputies (Lebanon) and budget processes overseen by the Council of Ministers (Lebanon). Directors and curators have engaged with donor organizations such as the Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and bilateral cultural cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute in Beirut and the Goethe-Institut Beirut.
Public services include reading rooms, reference services, interlibrary loan arrangements with entities like the Library of Congress, digitization access portals modelled on the Europeana platform, and outreach programming with the Beirut Municipality Library and community centers run by Caritas Lebanon and Lebanese Red Cross. Educational partnerships have linked to the American University of Beirut Libraries, the NDU Library at Notre Dame University–Louaize, and school networks such as The International College (Beirut). Special services addressed researchers of topics including the Taif Agreement, the Sykes–Picot Agreement, and Lebanese diaspora studies connected to communities in Brazil, Australia, and Canada.
Preservation efforts have involved microfilming and digital imaging projects supported by UNESCO, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and technical assistance from the British Library Digital Preservation Coalition. Digitization priorities included newspapers like An-Nahar and manuscript codices analogous to collections at the Bodleian Library and Vatican Library. Conservation training drew on expertise from the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and equipment grants from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Disaster preparedness planning referenced cases such as the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina fire and methodologies developed by the International Council on Archives.
The library has hosted exhibitions, lectures, and conferences featuring scholars tied to Orientalism debates, philologists studying Phoenician inscriptions, and events commemorating figures like Bechara El Khoury and Rafic Hariri. It has partnered with festivals such as the Beirut International Book Fair, the Beirut Art Center, and cultural weeks organized by embassies including the Embassy of France in Lebanon and the British Council. Programming addressed topics such as the Lebanese diaspora, cultural heritage restitution cases connected to the Nazi-era looting debates, and collaborative symposia with the University of Paris and the American University of Beirut.
Category:Libraries in Lebanon Category:National libraries