The Al-Babtain Central Library for Arabic Poetry will be inaugurated next Saturday under the auspices of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, said Monday the Director of Al-Babtain Foundation Abdul-Aziz Al-Babtain.
In a press conference held today, Al-Babtain said that the library's objective was to collect scattered Arabic poetry in an attempt to assist intellectuals in preserving their Arab identity.
"Establishing the library in Kuwait is an honor for us all, but the ownership of its collection will be to all Arabs," Al-Babtain said.
Al-Babtain stressed the importance of the project as change has been storming our region attempting to alter our heritage, noting that the library would preserve the Arabic Language and its poetic heritage.
The library, said Al-Babtain, contained 80,000 books, noting that the collection's number would double up this year as large number of books was still in storages waiting to be shelved.
He noted that the library contained tens of rare books, some of which dated back to the 15th century.
The library, he added, would also organize computer courses for people over 35-year-old and lectures concerning cultural issues.
The library's director, Suad Al-Atiqy, explained that the ground floor of the three-story library would contain references, periodical and rare documents in addition to lecture halls, multimedia rooms, internet laboratories, the Arab Information Bank and Ibsar Center for people with vision impairment.
The first floor, she added, would contain Arab poetry books and university thesis books; meanwhile, the third floor would be dedicated for Abdul-Karim Al-Babtain library, which contains very rare documents and books.
Al-Atiqy noted that all floors would have reading halls and access to the library's electronic index.
Established in 1989, Al-Babtain Foundation for Poetic Creativity is a cultural non-profit organization based in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. The foundation has been organizing semi-annual prizes for creative poets since 1990.
