Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi

The Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi is a large library in Mashad, Iran.

It was established before 1457, and holds 1.1 million books.

Contents

1 History 2 Organizational Structure 2.1 Office of Library Services 2.2 The office of the public library 2.3 The Office for the Manuscripts 3 The Museum 3.1 The Bureau of Museums 3.2 Department of the Research and description of objects 3.3 The Bureau of Preservation and Repair of the Museums objects 4 The Deputy for Branch libraries 5 The Instruction Unit 6 The Publishing Unit 7 The Research Unit 8 Supervision and productivity section 9 See also

History

The Organization of Libraries, Museums, and the Documentation Centre of Astan Quds Razavi is considered as one of the most important treasures of the recorded knowledge of Iran and the world of Islam.

There is no information about the exact date of the establishment of the library of Astan Quds Razavi. It can be however construed from some donation documents that the library of Astan Quds Razavi was open to and used by the public in 1457 A.D.

The year 974 A.D. is the donation date of the oldest Quran manuscript caligraphed by Abul Ghasem Ali Ibn Simjour to this collection.

From about 1737 A.D a special place was dedicated for the library but a special attention to the library goes back to the beginning of the twentieth Century. This matter is the cause of a speedy growth in the extension of the library and a day by day increasing attention of researchers and students to this point. However, during the resent years, the location of the library has changed many times but has always been in the vicinity and in the Site of the Holy Shrine.

Construction of the present building was completed in 1995, covering a total area of 28800 square meters and it was opened to the public in 1995.

Some of the outstanding features of this notable complex are as follows:

1. Affiliation of the complex to the Holy Shrine of Hadrat Imam Reza (A.S.)
2. Many manuscripts of very long life, artifacts and museum objects, some of them go back to more than 1000 years ago.
3. Exquisite copies of Quran, glorious manuscripts and printed books.
4. A vast collection of printed books in different fields.
5. A glorious and attractive building for the Central Library which is unique and exclusive in its kind in the history of Islamic art.
6. Very sophisticated facilities and technologies.
7. A big, fabulous collection of different museums.
8. An extended and rich collection of documents and serials.

Organizational Structure

At the top of the structure, The Managing Board and then the General Director of the Organization are situated.

The organization is comprised of the following parts: Two deputies, one administrative department, public affairs office, public relations section and several sections of experts.

• The Deputy for the Coordination and the Director of the Organization has three offices:

A: Library services B: Public library c: Manuscripts department

• The Deputy for Museums has three offices:

A: Museums B: the research and description of Objects D: Preservation and Repair of Objects.

• The Deputy for the library is comprised of two groups:

A: The office for branch libraries in Mashhad. B: The office for branch libraries in other cities.

• The Department of Documents and Serials is comprised of two groups:

A: The Documents B: The Serials

• The Office of Public Affairs, the section for public relations, and the experts for instruction, publishing, research, supervision and the executive manager of the quarterly Journal of Library and Information Science and also the newsletter are directly governed by the General Director of the Organization.

Office of Library Services

Ordering, providing, organizing and cataloging the materials including Persian, Arabic, and Latin printed books, electronic and audio visual materials, maps and data entry into the computer system, coordination, leading and supporting the library computer system, Internet and other software and hardware affairs of the whole organization are maintained by this office.

The office of the public library

This office has 18 reading halls (exclusive reading halls for the researchers, open reading halls, closed reading halls, book circulations hall, Internet hall, audio-visual center and audio-visual hall, book circulations and reading hall for adults, book circulations and reading hall for adolescents, Quran and artistic treasuries, the specialized library for Geography, the specialized library for museums and ….) these halls are at the service of both male and female groups.

The present number of printed books in the central library is more than 1,100,000 volumes.

The Office for the Manuscripts

Preparing, preserving, indexing and recording of manuscripts into the computer system, photographing and preparing microfilms and CDs from the manuscripts, earlier lithographic books, pamphlets, documents and handwritten papers, offering services to the researchers and cultural institutions inside and outside of the country are done by this office . The present number of manuscripts up to the end of 2003 is: 30250 volumes, 25000 of earlier lithographic books, 17240 other handwritten materials; the total number of the whole aforementioned is 72490 volumes.

The Museum

The Bureau of Museums

This bureau has 11 different Museums which are located separately in different buildings near each other. They are:

1. The Museum for the Quran and Precious Objects.
2. The Museum for precious objects donated by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
3. The specialized Museum for Carpets
4. The Museum for Armaments.
5. The Museum for Astronomical Tools and Clocks
6. The Museum for Coins and Medals
7. The Museum for the History of Mashhad .
8. The Museum for dishes and containers made of clay and crystal and different kinds of porcelains.
9. The Museum for portrayal arts
10. The Museum for Stamps and Banknotes
11. The Museum for Shellfishes and Mollusks

Department of the Research and description of objects

This department has the responsibility of doing applied research about the cultural objects, preparing of brochures, records and scientific profiles for the Museum's objects.

The Bureau of Preservation and Repair of the Museums objects

Preservation and repair of historical objects of the Museum and the treasury of Astan Quds Razavi in a scientific and modern way and maintenance and covering of the manuscripts and printed books and Serials are the main responsibilities of this Bureau.

The Deputy for Branch libraries

This deputy has two offices:

1. The office for branch libraries in Mashhad
2. The office for branch libraries in other cities.

There are 35 branches of this library:

1. 17 libraries in the Holy city of Mashhad.
2. 5 libraries in different big cities of Khorasan province.
3. 12 libraries in other cities of Iran.
4. one library in India.

The libraries have more than twenty thousand manuscripts, about one million printed books, and more than 100/000 members.

The Document unit holds six million documents and the Serials unit holds 6191 titles of periodicals. It Provides services to the researchers with 660827 volumes of Serials.

The Instruction Unit

This section was established in June 2002.

Some of the activities of this unit include:

1. planning instructional courses for the staff and library users.
2. providing the databanks and coordinating the related affairs for the instruction of internship students.
3. Holding courses for new staff.
4. Coordinating the instructional workshops.

The Publishing Unit

The most important tasks of the Publishing Unit are coordinating, supervising and managing the technical affairs of publishing.

The Research Unit

The Research and Publishing Council started its formal activity in 2001. Important tasks of this unit are:

1. Holding educational and research courses concerning research methods, questionnaire designing, etc.
2. Identifying research priorities for the Organization in the fields of library and information sciences, manuscripts, documents and maintenance of museums.
3. Supporting university theses carried out on the basis of the priorities set up by the Organization.

Supervision and productivity section

Categorizing and providing clerks' duties regarding the real needs of the organization and the necessary standards for the purpose of delivering services in the most pleasant way, also defining the criterions for qualification and assessment mechanism of the clerks' activities are among the duties of this section.

The editor in charge of the quarterly Journal of Library information Science and The newsletter of the organization.

Coordination and following all the steps of providing and preparing the quarterly Journal of Library information Science and Daneshvars (The AQR library local Newsletter) is done by the editor in charge of these two Publications.

See also

• Mashad
• Ayatollah al-Shirazi, one of Mashad's library benefactors.