Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Yumna Maumoon has revealed human development is as important as economic progress. She made the remarks addressing the ceremony held to inaugurate the newly upgraded National Library of the Maldives.
The digitalisation of the National Library is carried out as part of the project to upgrade the facilities with the assistance of the Bank of Maldives (BML). It is one of the 12 high-impact community initiatives carried out to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the national bank.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Yumna stated a modern, well-equipped library is important to develop educated and research-seeking citizens. She said it is crucial to ensure human development is facilitated while speaking about sustainable development.
Moreover, speaking at the ceremony, Head of Marketing Communication of BML Ahmed Zareer said the audio booth setup established as part of the project is noteworthy. The audio booth setup will enable people with visual impairments to read books, he said.
The upgrade of the national library involved revamping the main reading area, Kiyavathi discussion room, silent reading, and research room as well as the Makers Space and the National Collection room. In addition, the existing facilities were upgraded with new computer systems, and an audio and video booth for digitisation, and for the first time, a security system is also installed at the facility.