A collaborative project seeking to restore the University of Mosul Library reached a significant milestone last month.
The formerly cherished library was sadly destroyed during the ISIS occupation of Mosul.
EPP co-founder and UNESCO Chair, Professor Kelsey Shanks, attended the campus as part of an initiative to restore the library, together with a number of collaborative partners.
During the meeting, updates were provided to attendees on how the restoration works were progressing.
Professor Shanks, along with Humam Talal, from the UNESCO Office of Iraq were received by the Secretary General of the University Libraries Mr. Sayf Al-Ashqar, who detailed the progress being made. Also in attendance were representatives from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
Professor Shanks, who is now a visiting Professor at Mosul University, was impressed by the progress of the works and said: “It’s truly inspiring to see the work undertaken to restore such a historically important community asset.
“The university library was revered as a centre for reading and learning, which made its destruction all the more devastating to hear of. However, the progress being made by a dedicated and diverse range of partners in restoring this much-loved community asset is in full swing and I feel very excited about the future for the library.”
This however, was not Professor Shank’s first visit to the university. In her role with the EPP project, Professor Shanks has previously visited the library through a partnership between Ulster and Mosul university to cooperate on such projects.
The partnership between the two universities seeks to support Mosul with resources and expertise in the wake of the devastation brought about by ISIS. Ulster too, is a region which has suffered decades of conflict.
As part of the scheme, the university will be providing a programme of professional library studies training to the library staff at Mosul.
For more information on the Mosul Library restoration project, please click here.
