Conserving historical manuscripts from libraries in East Jerusalem

The Khalidi Library, established in 1900 in a 13th-century building, is based in the Old City of Jerusalem. The library’s collection of some 2,000 titles makes it one of the oldest, largest, and most vulnerable collections in Jerusalem. Successive conflicts since 1967 have made conserving the collection challenging and have also limited researchers’ access to the manuscripts. 

The project fostered collaboration between Jerusalem-based institutions (Budiri Library and the Dar Isaaf Al-Nashashibi Library of the Dar Al-Tifl Al-Arabi Foundation) to protect historical manuscripts and other cultural heritage materials of significant value to Palestinian history and identity, endangered by conflict. Seventeen manuscripts were restored, 2,000 manuscripts were digitized and put online as well as over 29,000 pages of archival materials, rare books and uncatalogued manuscripts. In addition, a fire prevention system was installed, and two library personnel were trained. Outreach programs to raise awareness about this heritage included school visits and the production of a short documentary film.