TEHRAN -- The new director of the Majlis Library, Museum, and Documentation Center, Mohammadreza Majidi, has said that plans to convince UNESCO to register more rare manuscript books on the organization’s Memory of the World Register list are high on his list of priorities.

In a recent interview with the Tehran Times, he praised the efforts made by his predecessors in this way, and said that the center plans to reinforce its relationship with the Iranian National Committee for Memory of the World.

The committee and Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) have the responsibility to submit works to UNESCO for registration on the list.

“Kitab at-Tafhim Li-Awa’ili Sina’at at-Tanjim” (“Book of Instructions in the Elements of the Art of Astrology”) written by Persian scientist Abu Rayhan Biruni (973-1048 CE) in 1029 is one invaluable manuscript books of the center registered on the list in May 2011.

The book, commonly known as “At-Tafhim”, is a self-teaching guide for astronomy arranged in a Q&A style. The oldest version of the book, which has been inscribed by Mohammad ibn Jurabi in 1143 CE, is kept in the Majlis Library, Museum and Documentation Center.

To enrich the treasury of the library, Majidi said that the center will seek to purchase rare manuscripts and historical documents from private collectors.

According to some official figures published in 2012, the Majlis Library, Museum, and Documentation Center keeps about 25,000 rare manuscripts.

Majidi said that the library has digitalized a large number of the manuscripts in order to enable scholars to have access to the texts of the rare books.

He also announced his plans for a specialized law library, which will be turned into a reliable scientific center for law books and materials.

Located in Tehran’s Baharestan Square, the Majlis Library, Museum and Documentation Center established a branch adjacent to the Majlis in 2006 to provide MPs immediate access to sources and materials.

Majidi described the relationship between the library and MPs as “close relations” and said the library branch receives between 800 and 1200 visits annually.

The Majlis is made up of 290 members.

Photo: The director of the Majlis Library, Museum, and Documentation Center, Mohammadreza Majidi, in an undated photo (ICANA/Mostafa Haqgu)

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