The Prophet's Mosque Library is one of the oldest libraries in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the libraries whose components were formed throughout the various historical eras, namely before the fire of the Prophet's Mosque on November 14, 1481. The fire wiped out the cabinets holding the Noble Quran and books. The library contained valuable copies of the Noble Quran and books.
The Prophet's Mosque Library has been conserved with the utmost care since its reestablishment during the reign of the founder, King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, in 1933 and the appointment of Ahmed Yasseen al-Khayari as its first official librarian.
The development of the library continued until King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud laid the cornerstone of the Project for the Building of the Prophet's Chambers and Prophet's Mosque Library in 1990.
Content of the Prophet's Mosque Library
The library is located on the western roof of the Prophet's Mosque. It covers an area of 744 m and comprises more than 172,548 books, 541 cabinets, and seventy-one categories. It has a capacity for more than three hundred visitors per hour and is visited by more than seven hundred thousand visitors annually.
The library features many books that were endowed in favor of the Prophet's Mosque before it was established. Notable examples include the library of Mohammed al-Aziz al-Wazir, endowed in 1902, whose books were placed in the library upon its establishment. Al-Rawdah al-Sharifah also held books published long before the library was established.
The library holds assets endowed in favor of the Prophet's Mosque by kings, princes, scientists, and the rich, namely the two large cabinets placed therein since 1184 and the books endowed by Ibrahim al-Rawashi in 1354, among other books endowed in various eras and decades.
The content of the library is not limited to books. It also houses rare documents and manuscripts. The Department of Manuscripts holds more than six hundred manuscripts of the rarest and most valuable copies of the Noble Quran in the world, more than 250 copies of the Noble Quran, more than 1,040 volumes, including original single manuscripts, and more than 265 manuscript volumes. The department also features collections of 1,550 titles and letters, along with more than 260 thousand titles for digital manuscripts.
Moreover, the library holds non-Arabic books for non-Arabic speakers. Publications include books in Urdu, English, French, Turkish, Persian, and German, among more than 2,400 paper books and 7,000 e-books in more than twenty-two languages. The library also has six copies of the Noble Quran and sixty-seven books for the visually impaired.
Sections of the Prophet's Mosque Library
The Prophet's Mosque library has various sections serving its visitors and facilitating their access to knowledge. Sections of the library include reading areas for men, women, and children; the manuscripts section; the audio library; the technical section responsible for the protection, restoration, and sterilization of manuscripts; and the sections for indexing and categorization, supply, periodicals, and the warehouse.
The library also has a section dedicated to rare books. The section is responsible for the conservation of books considered to be rare in terms of their printing date, ornamentation, shapes, and photos, among others. The library encompasses other sections as well, such as the sections of research and translation, safety and security, gifting and exchange, and loans.
The library features a digital library comprising seventy-one computer devices connected to the intranet. These devices display all the lessons, books, and audio materials of the Prophet's Mosque.
Departments of the Prophet's Mosque Library
The organizational structure of the Prophet's Mosque Library encompasses many departments serving visitors. These departments include the Department of Office Services, the Department of Children's Library, the Department of Manuscripts, and the Department of Supply, which is responsible for adding books to computer systems. The Department of Technical Services is also part of the library. This department is responsible for binding twelve thousand books, sorting 7,500 books, copying 4,500 books, thermal printing 1,100 books, and wrapping two thousand books annually.
The library also encompasses the Department of Private Libraries and Periodicals, responsible for the libraries of scientists and sheiks who endow their books in favor of the Prophet's Mosque. The library currently hosts seventy-three libraries, while periodicals offer more than 7,500 periodical issues, including magazines, manuscripts, and periodic reports.
Other departments of the library include the Department of Languages and Translation, the Department of Researchers Services, the Department of the Smart Digital Library, and the Department of Books Archiving. The latter is responsible for the archival of more than 1.5 million papers a year and book processing. The digital library holds 146 thousand digital books, while the Department of Relations and Programs is responsible for the media aspects of the general administration of the Prophet's Mosque library.
Documentation of the Prophet's Mosque Library
To document the role of the Prophet's Mosque Library in disseminating knowledge, the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives issued a book entitled The Prophet's Mosque Library: History and Facts in 2022. The book relates some aspects of the rarest and most valuable manuscripts of the library affiliated with the General Presidency of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, including the Noble Quran, Quranic Sciences books, Sunnah books, jurisprudence books, Arabic language books, and various other arts.
The book, issued in English and Arabic, summarizes the historical content of the Prophet's Mosque Library. It offers statistics on the libraries of al-Madinah al-Munawwarah during various eras and a historical overview of the news of these libraries over the centuries.
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