Sharjah24 – Reuters: Located at the heart of Jerusalem, three historical libraries launch a project to restore and digitise around 4,000 ancient manuscripts and a million digital photos to make them accessible to researchers and the general public.

The Khalidi Library, established in 1899, is among them.

With a collection of around 1,200 manuscripts on various subjects like history and geography, the oldest of which is about 1,000 years old, the library contains one of the world's biggest private collections of Arabic manuscripts.

The project benefits researchers but predominantly targets the general public.

“Our aim is to reach the general public, so that students, tourists, Jerusalmites and foreigners know that when we talk about Palestinian culture and Jerusalem, we talk about different forms of cultural production," one the Khalidi Library’s administrators, Raja Khalidi, said.

Several of the texts preserved at the library shed light on the history of Palestinians in Jerusalem, explore Arab presence in the region and tell the story of the Khalidi family and its connection to the city.

The first stage of the project is supported by Hill Museum & Manuscript Library and is expected to end by mid 2022.