University of Coimbra launches €8 million project to digitise 30,000 century-old books from Joanina Library

In March, the University of Coimbra (UC) will launch a project to digitize the historical collection of the Joanina Library. The Biblioteca Joanina Digital (Joanina Digital Library), expected to be completed by 2030, will include approximately 30,000 centuries-old books housed on the main floor of the library. The project is being developed in partnership with the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), which is funding it with nearly eight million euros. The initiative operates under the high patronage of the Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, who was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Coimbra in 2018.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Wednesday, the 21st, by the Rector of the UC, Amílcar Falcão, and the CEO of the Sharjah Book Authority, Ahmed Bin Rakkad Al Ameri. The ceremony took place in the Joanina Library, surrounded by books from all over the world, most of which were published between the early 16th century and the late 18th century.

The aim is to progressively digitize, over six years, the approximately 30,000 books on the main floor of the Joanina Library, which are part of the two million-book catalogue of the General Library of the University of Coimbra. This process will begin with a 12-month pilot phase focusing on the collection of publications from the Middle East, to be named the 'Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi Library'.

All of these rare books will be accessible through an open-access digital repository. This means that they will not only be accessible to the 500,000 people who visit the Biblioteca Joanina on average each year but also to readers and researchers from all over the world.

In addition to being accessible online through the platform developed by the UC, which will manage the entire digitization, cataloging, archiving, and technological solutions development process, the collections of Biblioteca Joanina Digital will also be accessible on Europeana. Europeana is the digital portal for cultural heritage that brings together books, films, and music from thousands of cultural institutions across Europe.

"This project is a unique opportunity to showcase one of the world's most beautiful libraries in the digital universe, promoting cutting-edge technical solutions and innovative research while enabling the curation and preservation of this precious and unique bibliographic collection," says the UC Rector, Amílcar Falcão.

The CEO of the Sharjah Literary Authority emphasizes the importance of this collaboration. "Sharjah has become a beacon of enlightenment under the visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, as reflected globally in the 'Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi Library' project. By leveraging the digitization expertise of the University of Coimbra, we want to create a digital library of high academic relevance".