MoU aims to promote collaboration and cement Dubai’s global leading position

Al Murr: MBRL is keen on sparking a passion for knowledge among members of society

Badri: We aim to elevate the local cultural scene and develop the public libraries’ ecosystem in Dubai

Dubai, UAE - February 22, 2023:  The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture). The new MoU aims to help enrich Dubai’s cultural landscape, promote collaboration and exchange of knowledge and expertise, and cement Dubai’s position as a leading regional and global cultural hub.

The MoU was signed by HE Mohammed Ahmad Al Murr, Chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library Foundation, and Her Excellency Hala Badri, Director General of Dubai Culture. The signing ceremony was attended by officials from both entities.

“Elevating the cultural movement requires the collaboration of relevant public and private players by launching and supporting new initiatives and events in Dubai. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library is always seeking to expand its strategic partnerships with relevant stakeholders based on our social responsibility to instil knowledge in society, and support our comprehensive development, in line with Dubai’s strategic and national goals for the Next 50,” HE Al Murr said. 
“The MoU is a clear indication of MBRL strategy and efforts to support the development of the cultural landscape, building upon the Library’s resources, including thousands of books, as well as printed, digital, and audio/visual knowledge material, covering various fields. We are committed to our vision to spark the passion of knowledge in members of society to enable a better tomorrow for our future generations,” HE Al Murr added.  

Hala Badri affirmed the important role played by libraries in spreading information and supporting reading, which is one of the pillars of shaping the future by providing various means of scientific and knowledge research and innovative thinking to advance human thought and awareness. Badri said: “Public libraries represent rich sources of understanding, and important cultural portals for all members of society. Dubai Culture has striven to develop the work system in Dubai’s public libraries using international best practices, which enable them to provide public services with high efficiency.”

Badri added: “The MoU with Mohammed bin Rashid Library falls within our framework of enriching the local cultural scene and consolidating knowledge as part of our keenness to strengthen the partnerships with government entities with the aim of exchanging experiences and knowledge and enabling the cultural and creative sector in the emirate. This all is aligned with Dubai’s cultural vision of cementing its position as a global centre for culture, an incubator for creativity and a thriving hub for talent.”

As detailed in the MoU, the parties will come together to develop new policies to unify the library management systems and connect indexes and bibliographic databases. It also covers the partnership and registration in global databases, as well as other sources of knowledge, books, and e-magazines for the optimum use of resources.

The MoU aims to ensure the constant development of knowledge available to both parties, based on the needs and requirements of their users, organising global libraries conferences, as well as collaborating on staging specialised book fairs to encourage reading, and focus on exchange of publications, studies, and white papers prepared for conferences the parties participate in, to be added to the libraries of both sides.