National Library - Sanayeh
History of The Lebanese National Library
1919
Viscount Philip de Tarrazi (1865 – 1956), a bibliophile and a historian of the Arab press, established a library in his own residence with his own personal collection. This collection included, at the time, around twenty thousand printed documents and nearly three thousand manuscripts in several languages.
1921
When his house could no longer hold an ever-growing collection, de Tarrazi transferred what would later constitute the nucleus of the future National Library to the "Prussian Deaconesses" school. At that time, he called the institution the "Great Library of Beirut" and selected eight intellectuals to assist him.
De Tarrazi then struggled for recognition by the Lebanese authorities of this new institution. Finally, on December 8, 1921, the Lebanese state promoted the library to the rank of a National Library. As a state institution, it became attached to the Directorate General of Education.
1922
On July 25, 1922, the official inauguration of the "Great Library of Beirut " took place at the "Deaconess" premises in downtown Beirut, under the chairmanship of the French High Commissioner, General Gouraud, and in the presence of Lebanese and French figures, as well as the country's intellectual figures and notables. De Tarrazi was then appointed General Secretary and then curator of this new institution. He held this position until 1939.
1922 – 1928
On July 25, 1922, the official inauguration of the "Great Library of Beirut " took place at the "Deaconess" premises in downtown Beirut, under the chairmanship of the French High Commissioner, General Gouraud, and in the presence of Lebanese and French figures, as well as the country's intellectual figures and notables. De Tarrazi was then appointed General Secretary and then curator of this new institution. He held this position until 1939.
De Tarrazi undertook several trips to Europe and then to Egypt to acquire new books and collect donations. He established a network with intellectuals and bibliophiles of the region.
During his absence, the staff's negligence led to disorder in the library. When he returned from his trip, de Tarrazi found an institution in chaos and had to recruit a new team for reorganizing the work.
1924
The law on legal deposit (Order No 2385 signed by General Weygand, on January 17, 1924) was established.
1935
The administrative status of the National Library was determined by virtue of a Decree; it thus became a service attached to the Ministry of National Education.
1937
The Lebanese National Library (LNL) moved with its 32 thousand documents to its new premises built by engineer Mardiros Altounian, in the Parliament building at Place de l'Etoile in Beirut. The official inauguration took place on June 7, 1937, in the presence of President Emile Eddé, and a host of figures. A team of 8 people who were detached from the Ministry of National Education served there. The LNL remained in that location until the beginning of the war in 1975.
1939
De Tarrazi resigned from his position as director of the National Library on November 25, 1939.
From that date onwards, several librarians succeeded him, including Youssef Assad Dagher, Abdel Latif Charara, Hector Khlat, Khalil Takeyeddine, Noureddine Beyhum, and Ibrahim Mouawad. During that time, a team of thirty-five people worked at the Library and ensured its proper functioning.
1940-1975
The Library's collections amounted to approximately 200,000 printed documents and manuscripts, in addition to an important archive collection (administrative and historical documents left behind by the Turks in 1918; documents and studies of the Huvelin mission that constitute the archives of the early years of the French mandate). The Library was at the time a resource for scholars, teachers, officials, and for all Lebanese libraries, mainly academic. A hall was entirely devoted to precious collections and valuable manuscripts, including the Shâh Nameh Al Ferdowsi. On the walls hung oil paintings representing the pillars of the Renaissance, from the seventeenth to the twentieth century.
The collection was mainly developed thanks to several donors, including the first post-independence president, Sheikh Bechara el-Khoury, collectors such as G. Yanni and G. Safa, and the families of some Lebanese authors, such as Habib Fares.
1975
The 1975 war fighting began in the city's downtown where the National Library was located. During the war years, the library suffered significant damage. According to some sources, 1200 of most precious manuscripts disappeared, and no memory is left of the Library's organization and operational procedures of that time.
1979
The Lebanese Government decreed a freeze on the National Library's activities. The historical collection was entrusted to the Bank of Lebanon and then to the National Archives. It included the manuscripts, the paintings and Philip de Tarrazi's collection of the first issues of Lebanese periodicals.
1983
In order to safeguard them, books and periodicals were put in boxes and transferred to a storehouse at the Unesco, which in turn suffered damage from war. Storage conditions became detrimental to their preservation (insects and humidity).
1993
The Ministry of Culture and Higher Education was created with the authority to manage the National Library.
1994
An expertise mission of the French National Library established an assessment of the situation and drafted a preliminary action plan. Temporary premises were consequently allocated to the LNL in Sin el Fil, Beirut East suburb, and the boxes were stored in a drier location.
1995
The amendment of the law on printed material entrusted the legal deposit to the National Archives.
1999
Following a new expertise report from the French National Library and the European Union, the Lebanese Minister of Culture announced that the Rehabilitation Project of the Lebanese National Library was one of 1999's top priorities.
Decree No 29 of the Council of Ministers provided the Ministry of Culture with the current premises of the Faculty of Law of the Lebanese University in Sanayeh as a final location for the permanent establishment of the Lebanese Library.
During this same year, the Ministry of Culture signed an agreement with the International ISBN (International Standard Book Number) Agency in Berlin, thus allowing Lebanon to adhere to the international system of book numbering that gives each book published in Lebanon an international number and a global identity. The ISBN became operational in 2000.
2000
In April 2000, the books and periodicals were moved to the premises of the Lebanese University in Hadath. A global disinfection of the whole collection was carried out under the supervision of The International Center for Book Conservation of Arles (France) in the framework of the ManuMed (Manuscrits de la Méditerranée).
On March 27,2000 the Lebanese National Library Foundation was created by Notice 37/AD.
2001
A draft framework law by the Ministry of Culture, which established the National Library as a public institution and defined its missions in a clear manner, was adopted by the Council of Ministers and submitted to the Lebanese parliament for voting.
2002
Premises located in the Free Zone of the Port of Beirut were finally assigned to the safeguarding of the collections. The workshops were equipped and a team was hired to start cleaning, sorting and inventorying the collections.
2003The Rehabilitation Project of the National Library was launched for a three-year period. Its objectives were: physical and intellectual treatment; human resource training; establishing the Library as an Institution; preparing the architectural competition.
This project was funded by the European Union with a budget of €1,375,000, of which 80% was paid by the EU and the remaining 20% by the Lebanese State.
2005
In October 2005, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, announced a donation of $25 million for the restoration of the Sanayeh old premises and the construction of new spaces needed to house the National Library.
2006
The Rehabilitation Project of the National Library ended under the agreement with the Delegation of the European Commission in Lebanon. The architectural program for the construction of the future LNL in Sanayeh was established. The missions and functions of the LNL were defined, and an operational chart was drafted.
2007
The Lebanese Government launched the Revival Project of the National Library in continuation of the Rehabilitation Project and took its funding in charge.
The missions of the Project are: cataloguing and indexing the Library's collections, restoring old works, conducting bibliographic search to develop the existing collections, and building the project's website.
2008
On October 16, 2008 Law No 36 was promulgated and published in the Official Gazette (OJ43/20/10/2008). It organizes public institutions attached to the Ministry of Culture.
By virtue of this law, the National Library became a public institution under the supervision of the Minister of Culture.
2010
At the beginning of 2010, the State of Qatar commissioned the construction of the future premises of the Library in Sanayeh to the architectural firm Erga Group, through the close implementation of the architectural program. The official launching of the works took place on December 28, 2010.
Mission Statement of the Lebanese National Library
1- To conserve the published national intellectual production, regardless of type and format; to conserve books and documents relating to this production, especially those concerning Lebanon and Lebanese in general, which are published or conserved abroad; to preserve those collections and strive to develop them.
2- To meet the public cultural and scientific needs by acquiring publications which are consistent with the cultural diversity of the Lebanese public and its openness to other world cultures;
3- To promote the national intellectual production through different means, and especially by the publication of the national bibliography.
4- To make available all of its collections to the interested public, and to students and researchers; to promote the collections and invite the public to benefit from them through the various available means.
5- To be a center of excellence and leadership for research on books, libraries and information, as well as for the development of professions relating to these areas; to develop the skills of technical personnel working within the institution.
6- To contribute to the development of public libraries, to develop their collections, to improve and optimize the quality of their services, in the framework of the public policy adopted by the Ministry of Culture in this area.
Functions of the Lebanese National Library
I. Collecting national works and developing the collections of the Library in order to become an institution of national memory
To fulfill this role, it will:
a. Ensure reception of intellectual production made in Lebanon, regardless of its form, as well as the production deposited at the Library under the legal deposit; and permanently conserve a copy in its original form, regardless of its format, and make it available to the public.
b. Collect the intellectual production, previously produced in Lebanon, and already made available to the public but not deposited at the LNL; and permanently conserve a copy in its original form or any other available form.
c. Acquire through purchase, donation, loan, consignment, reproduction or any other legal means:
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Any document produced and made available to the public abroad relating to Lebanon or to the Lebanese public.
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Intellectual productions that provide a better understanding of Lebanon and the Lebanese public, or allowing a better use of the Lebanese intellectual production.
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Great works of human thought which are in accordance with the Lebanese culture of openness and which are part of their cultural horizons in different fields of knowledge.
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Scientific publications that meet the needs of national development.
II. Conserving memory and intellectual production
To fulfill this role, it will:
a. Conserve the original copy of documents in the best preservation conditions, especially those relating to the national intellectual production.
b. Make two copies in a physical format different from the original one for documents requiring urgent preservation and for those whose access to content may be hampered by technological developments, unlike any other statutory provision.
c. Ensure the conditions for long-term preservation of digital documents which will allow their consultation regardless of technical changes in software, media, and equipment.
d. Perform restoration work, binding, etc. that is appropriate to the format of conserved documents.
III. Managing the collections of the Library
To fulfill this role, it will:
a. Establish bibliographic standards.
b. Coordinate with publishers to adopt the "Cataloguing-In-Publication".
c. Cataloguing and indexing acquired documents to create the Library's catalogue and participate in the production of a unified catalogue among libraries.
d. Develop a bibliography of articles and scientific papers made available to the public and considered useful for ongoing research.
IV. Providing access to the Library's collections
To fulfill this role, it will:
a. Ensure national bibliographic control through the production and publication of the national bibliography.
b. Make known its collections and those of other libraries and partner institutions and allow their consultation on site and remotely.
c. Establish reading halls for the interested public, researchers and students, to consult its collections, knowing that individuals may not borrow books.
d. Ensure communication, borrowing, rental, exchange, or donation of documents mentioned in paragraph I (a. b. c.) in accordance with the laws in effect.
e. Organize exhibitions, cultural activities, conferences, seminars, and scientific meetings, on the Lebanese and global intellectual production.
V. Developing libraries and information sector
1- Broaden, enliven, develop and coordinate services between libraries and information and documentation centers.
2- Ensure the development of a national network of libraries and information and documentation centers, organize and coordinate their services.
3- Work to be the reference institution for books, libraries, and information. Develop professions relating to these areas as well as skills of technical staff.
4- Develop skills of the LNL staff and participate in the training of executives specialized in the fields of books, libraries and information. For this purpose, the Library organizes training courses to keep pace with the technological and professional evolutions.
5- Cooperate with universities teaching information and library sciences as well as book trade, so that their academic curricula meet the needs of libraries, information and documentation centers, and those of the National Library.
6- Cooperate with the concerned universities by offering internships to their students in information, library and book trade.
7- Develop skills in conservation and restoration of library and digital collections, and be a pioneer in this area.
1- Broaden, enliven, develop and coordinate services between libraries and information and documentation centers.
2- Ensure the development of a national network of libraries and information and documentation centers, organize and coordinate their services.
3- Work to be the reference institution for books, libraries, and information. Develop professions relating to these areas as well as skills of technical staff.
4- Develop skills of the LNL staff and participate in the training of executives specialized in the fields of books, libraries and information. For this purpose, the Library organizes training courses to keep pace with the technological and professional evolutions.
5- Cooperate with universities teaching information and library sciences as well as book trade, so that their academic curricula meet the needs of libraries, information and documentation centers, and those of the National Library.
6- Cooperate with the concerned universities by offering internships to their students in information, library and book trade.
7- Develop skills in conservation and restoration of library and digital collections, and be a pioneer in this area.
VI. Supporting public libraries
To fulfill this role, it will support and encourage public reading by contributing to the development of public libraries' collections, developing their services and ensuring coordination among them, and helping to train their staff.
To fulfill this role, it will support and encourage public reading by contributing to the development of public libraries' collections, developing their services and ensuring coordination among them, and helping to train their staff.
VII. Cooperating with regional and global organizations
Strive for excellence in delivering its missions by the development of relations and the cooperation with national, regional and international cultural and scientific institutions.
Strive for excellence in delivering its missions by the development of relations and the cooperation with national, regional and international cultural and scientific institutions.
Contact Information
Port of Beirut, Free Zone, 2nd and 3rd floors
