On Monday morning, March 21, 2022, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Mr. Mustafa Sanalla, visited the Libyan Center for Archives and Historical Studies, and was received by the President of the Center Dr. Mohamed Al-Jarari, a number of doctors, distinguished historians and specialists of the center.
Mr. Mustafa Sanalla explained during a speech on this occasion, that the NOC’s support for the center, consisting of providing the necessary equipment to preserve paper archives electronically, is a simple modest work and that supporting the Center with all needs and requirements is a national duty, in order to continue to play its historical role in preserving and documenting Libyan memory, stressing that “those who do not have a history do not have a present or future”.
Mr. Mustafa Sanalla also stressed that the NOC will be a permanent supporter of the center, and will not hesitate to help whenever the possibilities are available, in accordance with its social responsibility, considering that the center is located in the heart of the capital, which hugs the headquarters of most of oil companies, and that this project concerns all Libyans and preserves their history and cultural heritage, and this support is a national work with distinction.
Mr. Sanalla urged all responsible authorities in Libya to contribute to the development of the center, and to preserve its rare manuscripts, books and documents representing the history and memory of Libya and thanked the center’s officials for their strenuous efforts in preserving Libya’s historical memory.
For his part, The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center Dr. Mohamed Al-Jarari, praised the efforts of the management of the NOC represented by Mr. Mustafa Sanalla, and the Department of Sustainable Development of the NOC, for their great interest and contribution to maintaining nearly 30 million documents within the center representing the memory of Libya and putting it electronically in front of students, researchers easily and smoothly and maintaining the origin of these historical and rare documents and storing them optimally.
Mr. Mustafa Sanalla, accompanied by his delegation, toured the corridors of the Centre and was accompanied by Dr. Mohamed Al-Jarari and the center’s officials, which included the sections of foreign and Arabic documents, manuscript sections, photography, oral novel and public archives, also an explanation about the documents and manuscripts containing the sections of great historical significance and symbolism.
The tour concluded with the opening of the Center’s library after the Foundation provided it with an electronic archive system to provide and promote free access to sources of information, and facilitate research and studies for professors, researchers in the field of historical studies, by taking advantage of the sources and references available at the Center’s library and books estimated at 450,000 books.
The center officials also presented a visual presentation containing the most important digitally converted works, future work that the Center aspires to accomplish, and the possibility of the NOC’s contribution to its achievement.
It is worth mentioning that the Libyan Center for Archives and Historical Studies includes approximately 30 million document to Libya’s history, written and audible.
