The National Library of Aleppo () is a

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

national library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

in the northern city of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. It was opened in 1924, at the Islamic awqaf department in Khan al-Jumrok at the time of the French Mandate.

History

In 1924, a decision to open a national library in Aleppo was passed by the central government in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

to become a branch of the Arab Scientific Academy. Sheikh ''Kamel al-Ghazzi'' became the first director of the library. In 1937, the construction of the new library building was set in the Bab al-Faraj square, adjacent to the famous clock tower. The construction was completed in 1939. The inauguration of the new library building was delayed due to the circumstances during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Finally, on 4 December 1945, the new building was opened by the efforts of the Aleppo governor prince Mustafa al-Shihabi, with a collection of 6,000 books. The library remained under the administration of the Aleppo municipality until 1954 when the building was redeveloped and became under the direct administration of the Syrian Ministry of Culture.Aleppo Library, one of the oldest libraries in the Arab world
/ref> Currently, the library contains a collection of 100,000 books. The building has a small theatre hall with 300 seats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleppo National Library Library buildings completed in 1939 Libraries in Syria

Education in Aleppo Buildings and structures in Aleppo 1924 establishments in Mandatory Syria Libraries established in 1924

History

See also

References