RIYADH: A public library called “Culture House” will be established in the Saudi capital after an agreement was signed on Tuesday between the Libraries Commission and Riyadh Municipality.
The agreement will develop and enrich the King Salman Science Oasis project in the Al-Ta'awun neighborhood with cultural content.
It was signed by commission CEO, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Asim, and the undersecretary of the mayor for services, Mohammed Al-Aql, in the presence of Riyadh Mayor Prince Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf and Deputy Culture Minister Hamid Mohammad Fayez.
The areas for cooperation include preparing the King Salman Science Oasis for educational and cultural events and designing a visitor experience enriched with Saudi history and culture to create a public library for everyone.
The commission and municipality identified two tracks for cooperation.
The development track includes implementing and applying common ideas from the cultural sector. It also allows the commission to use the oasis area to implement profitable and nonprofit activities.
The operational track includes the commission's commitment to operating, maintaining, and managing the oasis and its external area, and making equipment suitable for the visitor experience.
The commission said later that the agreement was part of its responsibilities toward serving the Saudi library sector, getting the activities of culture houses going, revitalizing libraries as centers of education and culture, and strengthening local and international partnerships to develop this sector.
The commission is one of 11 new bodies launched by the Ministry of Culture.
Its role includes setting a strategy for the library sector, following up on its implementation after it has been approved by the ministry, establishing regulations and standards for the sector, and promoting reading by developing the library environment and enhancing its services.
Poet Munir Al-Nimr told Arab News: “Signing partnership agreements of this kind can be invested on a cultural level, as it develops the structure of culture in the Kingdom in general.
“Undoubtedly, the agreement gives cultural partnerships between entities a great ability to improve the cultural scene and spread culture. However, cultural entities alone are not able to spread culture on a large scale, despite the importance of the great role they play to serve the cultural aspects.”
Al-Nimr, who is also a visual artist, said Saudi Arabia had an important and expanding cultural movement, especially since the launch of Vision 2030.
“From here, the cultural movements come to keep pace with this important development that the Kingdom is witnessing on many levels.”
