Visitors to Qatar National Library will have the chance to take part in a series of engaging events throughout June to hear the stories of Qatar’s globetrotting travellers in workshops, and lectures.

Travel literature penned by early visitors to the Gulf offer interesting narratives that reveal more about early Qatari society, while visitors are invited to trace the journey of books in the Islamic world.

“Travel the World with Mango Languages” on June 15 is a hands-on session to introduce the interactive app, which offers courses for more than 70 languages, and can be accessed for free with the membership card of the library. Session leaders will guide participants to explore the features of the Mango Languages app and to set up an account to begin learning the language of their choice.

Visitors can discover more about a different aspect of travelling in a panel discussion on June 16 titled “Western Travellers and the Image of the other through the Heritage Library Collection”. The discussion will focus on famous names that have marked travel literature and their contributions to the knowledge of the “other,” and will show how travel literature can offer a better understanding of the social and political history of Qatar and the Gulf region.

On June 20, the well-known Qatari travel writer and television presenter will share his explorations in “Travelling Adventures with Ali bin Towar al-Kuwari”, a presentation that promises to be full of adventure, entertainment, and knowledge.

Haya al-Sheeb, Information Services Librarian at the library, said: “Whatever your plans are for this summer, whether you’re flying off or staying in Qatar, the Library can take you on an exciting journey during the month to explore new destinations and experiences through the world of books. We have something for everyone in June. We invite you to attend the events, and try learning a new language or an art technique that’s travelled the world.”

More travel tales will be presented at the “Tips for Young Travellers” on June 29, where world traveller Khaled al-Ammari will share his advice from more than 20 years of adventures. Participants can learn from al-Ammari’s most important tips before and during travel, and the best apps for getting the most important information for upcoming trips.

Visitors can travel back in time to the royal courts of the Renaissance on June 21 with “Philharmonic at the library: Music for the Kings”. In this final concert of the season, the music will be performed on historical instruments that were popular at the time of the Renaissance, including the cornet and the lute.

On June 30, a lecture titled “The Journey of Books in the Age of the Islamic Manuscript” will discuss the tradition of book transfer in the age of the Islamic manuscript. Mahmoud Zaki, manuscript librarian at the Library, and Shabib bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, a private manuscript collector and researcher, will show how books were transferred from one place to another by the people involved in their production, transmission, dissemination, and reception.

As part of the Library’s full programme of events available to the community during June, a range of hands-on workshops offer training on a set of practical skills and computing tools.

A workshop on June 13, “Research Clinic: Looking for Science and Technology Articles,” will help readers get to know the Library’s wide range of collections. A hands-on activity will be provided to help researchers, students, and anyone interested to familiarise themselves on doing their own literature search on databases related to science and technology.

On June 14, visitors have the chance to learn about the art of marbling, in the “Marbling on a Mug: A Global Art” workshop. After a short presentation on the history of the art and the science behind marbling, participants will personalise their own mug using the marbling technique.    

This will be followed by a workshop introducing one of today’s leading cloud computing tools, Google Drive, on June 15. This training will offer participants an ideal entry into the world of cloud computing. Another helpful session on June 22 will demonstrate “How to Create a Blog”. Presented by Best Life Qatar, participants will learn how to start their own blog and become familiar with different platforms such as blogsite, Instagram, and YouTube.

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