Libraries in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

This dossier examines the state of libraries in the United Arab Emirates through a multi-layered descriptive and analytical treatment of their institutional, technological, bibliographic, and educational dimensions. It opens by reaffirming the cultural and civilizational role of libraries as institutions for preserving and providing access to knowledge, then highlights how technological transformations have reshaped library services, especially in academic libraries, through automation, computerized circulation, online public access catalogs, database searching, CD-ROM use, networking, and electronic communication.
The dossier also addresses the bibliographic control of national intellectual output, with particular attention to national bibliography, bibliographic tools, official publications, serials, and documentation practices, reflecting a growing institutional awareness of the importance of preserving the country’s documentary and cultural memory. This perspective is further enriched by practical discussions of public collections management, technical processing, lending services, and automated systems, alongside an examination of school libraries and their role in supporting education, promoting reading habits, and connecting library work to curricular and extracurricular learning. Taken together, the dossier offers a comprehensive picture of libraries in the UAE as an integrated cultural, educational, and informational infrastructure.