Qatar National Library’s October calendar is filled with events catering to all age groups, with a focus on art, music, science and design.
On 1 October, the Library will launch its first GIF contest for young adults ages 12 to 18. The online competition will encourage participants to develop creative GIFs representing the Library’s digitized distinctive collections. Participants will be provided with a selection of images and can upload their final work on Instagram with the hashtag #GIFwithQNL. Three winners will become jury members for the Ajyal Film Festival 2021.
On 2 October, the Library will host Abdullah Hilal Almohannadi, an intermediate school student, who will discuss the various forms of school bullying, the reason for its spread among students and ways to deal with it.
On 5 October, the Library will launch its first Virtual Scientific Research Forum for young adults, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and the Qatar National Research Fund. The forum will introduce middle school and high school students to Qatar’s national priorities for scientific research and help them learn skills in the field of scientific research. Students will also get the opportunity to attend workshops about scientific research and showcase their science-related projects to the audience.
As part of the "Doha Capital of Culture in the Islamic World" celebration, the Library will conduct a session on “History of Islamic Schools of Jurisprudence in Qatar” on 6 October. The event will shed light on the diversity and breadth of jurisprudence schools in Qatar and highlight the most important jurisprudence books written by Qatari scholars and expatriates in Qatar.
The Mosaic Ensemble, made up of members from the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, will be in the Library on 6 October for a concert of classical Egyptian and Qatari songs. Nearly 20 musicians will perform a selection of works featuring violin, cello, double bass, oboe and percussion. This is the first live concert to be hosted in the Library’s building since Covid-19.
On 10 October, participants will learn about the role of children’s mental health in society during a session that explores some of the factors that may influence a child's behavior, barriers to treatment, how mental or behavioral disorders impact children, and a parent’s role in providing understanding and support.
On 13 October, Francisco Marmolejo, will talk about the newly developed Higher Education Strategy in Qatar. Francisco Marmolejo is President of Higher Education at Qatar Foundation (QF), where he leads support and coordination activities to the unique ecosystem of eight prestigious universities that offer more than 70 undergraduate and graduate programs to students from 60 countries at QF’s Education City, the largest campus of its kind globally, based in Doha, Qatar.
The Library is also ready to inspire visitors to start their sustainability journey in Qatar through a session presented by Doha Environmental Actions Project on 16 October. Participants will learn about marine life, the impact of plastic pollution in Qatar and a few simple solutions they can implement to protect marine life.
As part of “Doha Capital of Culture in the Islamic World: celebrations, the Library will host a session o 20 October, to highlight the efforts of the founder of Qatar, Sheikh Jassim bin Muhammad, in printing and publishing religious books to spread knowledge about Islamic culture.
As part of the ongoing exhibition “Between Science and Art: Early Photography in the Middle East,” which opened on 20 September, the Library will be hosting a practical workshop by photographer Khalifa Al Obaidli, Director of Artists in Residence and the Tasweer Photo Festival, on 22 and 23 October. He will guide attendees through building their own camera out of a soft drink can and taking pictures reminiscent of the spirit of early photography in the 18th century. Participants will learn about the history of photography, the theory behind primitive cameras and how they compare to modern cameras, and how to take old-fashioned-style photos without resorting to editing programs.
The Library will host an introductory session to its Open Access Author Fund on 25 October, which will outline ways in which authors in Qatar can use the fund to publish open access articles. The session will also briefly outline the concept of open access and how it can benefit research in Qatar.
On 26 October, the Library will host a panel discussion with international literacy changemakers to explore ways to combat misinformation, fake news and bias. News literacy experts Patricia Hunt and Glenn Harper will join Mohamed Erraji, Researcher at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, for the discussion. The session will be moderated by Latifa Al Amri, Information Services Librarian and Media Literacy Specialist at Qatar National Library.
In October, the Library kicks off its first community read and virtual book discussion, featuring Lilas Taha and her novel Bitter Almonds. Participants are invited to read the novel, about a Palestinian orphan displaced by occupation and driven by love and family ties, and discuss the book with Taha in November. To borrow a copy of the novel from the Library, participants are required to fill out the Library visit form https://registration.qnl.qa/booking-service#no-back.
The Library will continue to offer educational and interactive events throughout October 2021. For a complete list of events, please visit the Events page on the Library’s website (www.qnl.qa/en/events).
