Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication is set to digitize 200 public libraries across the country.

Morocco’s Ministry of Culture to Digitize 200 Public Libraries

Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication is set to digitize 200 public libraries across the country.

The ministry announced in a facebook post that the book directorate has recently created digital spaces within the libraries under the ministry, with an aim to digitize their services.

The project is part of the digitization process carried out by the various ministerial departments.

The list of libraries can be found on the ministry’s website.

In the wake of COVID-19, the ministry has adopted various approaches to support remote learning and allow Moroccans to access research content digitally.

Morocco has launched the e-Marefa digital library, a database platform that offers free access to e-books, scientific journals, book reviews, statistics, among others.

The database was developed by Knowledge World for Digital Content in Jordan, in partnership with many universities in the Arab world. It features over 1900 academic and statistical journals in English and Arabic, and more than 25,000 theses, 14,000 e-books and book reviews, and 6,500 Arabic reviews for Islamic Economics and Finance.

The National Library of Morocco in Rabat (BNRM) has also taken a similar initiative in 2020, where it provided its subscribers with free access to all of its e-books.

Among similar cultural initiatives taken in 2020 to keep Moroccans entertained during the lockdown, the Moroccan National Foundation of Museums (FNM), offered free online museum visits through a 360° virtual immersion tour.

Meanwhile, the Tenor Foundation for culture streamed free live music to entertain people staying home.