Qatar National Library (QNL) has appointed Dr Sohair Wastawy as the executive director. Dr Wastawy brings more than 30 years of international library and university management experience to the position, and has practised and taught librarianship in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the US. Prior to her new role, Dr Wastawy worked as dean of libraries at Florida Institute of Technology. She held the position of dean of University Libraries at Illinois State University, and was the first chief librarian for the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. Dr Wastawy also served as dean at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago from 1988 until 2004.
Fahad Saad al-Qahtani, president of community development at Qatar Foundation, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dr Wastawy as the new executive director of Qatar National Library. This is an exciting time for QNL as it prepares for the forthcoming opening of the National Library’s new library building designed by architect Rem Koolhaas at Education City.”
“We are confident Dr Wastawy’s extensive library experience in the Middle East, particularly at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, will further enhance Qatar Foundation’s drive towards building a knowledge-based economy in Qatar through spreading knowledge, preserving the nation’s heritage, and engaging local and international communities in Qatar’s cultural history,” he said.
Dr Wastawy began her library career at Cairo University Library and taught librarianship in the first women’s library programme in Saudi Arabia. She holds a Doctor of Arts in Library and Information Management from Simmons College, Boston, MA; and a Masters in Library and Information Science from The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.
Dr Wastawy said: “I am thrilled to be joining Qatar National Library at this exciting time and look forward to working with all the team to further develop the outstanding library services, collections, and facilities you have built here.”

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