Saudi Gazette The Jeddah International Book Fair has given visitors an ample opportunity to dive deep into the vast ocean of Saudi Arabia's history and culture through the ages. This huge treasure house of knowledge has been made available by some reputable Saudi institutions, such as King Fahd National Library, King Abdulaziz Darah (King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives), Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS) and Umm Al-Qura University. King Fahd Library The library with 2 million titles is the parent library in the Kingdom. Abdul Aziz Al-Shaqawi, director of the center for information on Saudi Arabia at the library, told Saudi Gazette that the library supplies readers with whatever information they want about Saudi Arabia. It has 150,000 rare pictures from the beginning of the Saudi era till to date, in addition to manuscripts and documents. Al-Shaqawi said the library is on the path of digitalization. He also disclosed plans to open branches in Makkah, Jeddah and Dammam, besides improved facilities for remote access for researchers. Al-Shaqawi is excited over the overwhelming response to the book fair, with thousands of curious people visiting the pavilion of the library to know more about the books displayed. "We have brought 450 titles to the fair. The most important books are about the Saudi leaders. These include ‘Salman Bin Abdulaziz', a selected bibliography about the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, authored by Muhammad Al-Rashid, director general of the library," Al-Shaqawi said. Al-Rashid also wrote "Naif Bin Abdulaziz: Selected Bibliography, Documents and Pictures." The book about Prince Sultan is titled "Sultan Bin Abdulaziz: Translation of His Life and Documentation of His Influence. A series of books about the Saudi rulers from King Abdul Aziz to King Salman were also published. The library brings out a special magazine about libraries. It took part in book fairs in almost all Arab countries as well as in Europe and America. King Abdulaziz Darah The pavilion of King Abdulaziz Darah provides the visitors a unique opportunity to learn about the history of Saudi Arabia in all spheres of life since its unification by King Abdulaziz until the period of King Salman. The pavilion houses several books and documents that give insights into the life and achievements of King Abdul Aziz and his successors — Saud, Faisal, Khalid, Fahd, Abdullah and Salman. Vast treasures of information about the reforms and giant leaps made by the Kingdom on local, regional and international levels were arrayed at the pavilion. There is also a video presentation about the discovery of oil and its impact on the breathtaking development and progress of the nation. The Darah gives comprehensive information to both academics, researchers, students as well as ordinary citizens about the history of the Kingdom, its rulers and the Kingdom's foreign relations. The Darah is involved in studying, publishing and translating books that serve the Kingdom's history, geography, literature and intellectual monuments as well as that of the Arabian Peninsula and other Arab and Islamic countries. Naif Arab University The pavilion of Naif Arab University for Security Sciences is another attraction at the book fair. The 35-year old university, based in Riyadh, is a unique educational institution in the Arab world specialized in security related courses and research. NAUSS specializes in advanced security studies at postgraduate level offering diplomas, master's degrees and doctorate programs. The Publishing House of NAUSS gave an insight into major activities and remarkable achievements of the university in this field. Omar Abdullah Almahfooz, finance and marketing officer of the publishing house, explained to Saudi Gazette the wide variety of activities of the university aimed at enhancing security awareness in the Arab world. "The university has published more than 7,500 books, and there is a big demand for its books from universities and publishing houses in different Arab countries. We share information and research with many countries, besides carrying out studies about experiments and failures in security fields and the reasons for this," he said. Almahfooz said the Jeddah fair is a unique experience for him and other officials from the university. "The venue in front of the Red Sea is fantastic as we don't get an opportunity to experience the sea in Riyadh. The readers in Jeddah are very interesting people as they love discussions. The readers in Riyadh are more concerned about psychological security while the concern in Jeddah is mainly about psychological behavior," he said. Umm Al-Qura Eng. Raad Flimban, dean for Scientific Research Management at Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, spoke about the wonderful experience of sharing the university's activities in scientific research, not only with academics but also with students and ordinary visitors to the book fair. "The university's pavilion gives an insight into the scientific researches being carried out by the university in different disciplines from religion to modern science, including the Qur'an, Hadith, Arabic language, engineering, medicine, biochemistry and architecture. Our most important area is Haj research and the Saudi government chalks out development plans at the holy sites mainly on the basis of these researches," he said, adding that Dr. Miraj Mirza's "Makkah from sky" is the most important project of the university in 2015. It is part of the Haj research. He said there are nine scientific chairs at the university, the latest of which is the Chair of King Salman for the History of Makkah. Another major chair is King Abdullah Chair for the Holy Qur'an.
