New library to protect valuable Islamic texts and to aid HE
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Loading... - Antonio keila
- 04 May 2023
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A new Central University Library of Mali, serving higher education institutions across this Sahel and Sahara country, will house thousands of ancient Islamic texts, including some removed from Timbuktu in 2013, to save them from destruction at the hands of Islamist militants.
The militants subsequently torched two libraries in the Malian desert city, but few texts were damaged – now many will be transferred to the new library, to be opened next August (2024), in the Mali capital, Bamako.
This West African franc XOF9 billion (US$15 million) building will include temperature control technology preserving much of Mali’s written heritage – books and manuscripts – with security systems aided by its location in Bamako, firmly under the control of the Mali military.
An Islamic insurgency still rages in Mali, with militants controlling much of northern Mali’s desert regions, although not Timbuktu, for centuries a centre of culture and religious learning. Read More…
