Press Archives Inaugurated

Chairman of Board of Trustees of the Isa Cultural Centre, Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalid Al Khalifa, praised today the achievements of the Bahraini press. He lauded the achievements and successes of the press under the pioneering Reform Project of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, underlining the outstanding history of press in Bahrain that started in 1939. This came as he inaugurated the National Press Archives centre at the National Library and the Bahrain Press Pioneers Gallery. During the ceremony, he hailed the crucial role played by Bahraini press in highlighting landmark national achievements and coverage of local functions. The archives unit features 29 sections housing 13 newspapers and 16 journals. It also has over 1393 volumes of tens of thousands of newspapers, as Bahrain press issued around 100 newspapers and journals, including 5 daily newspapers, two newspapers in English, in addition to weekly newspapers and a variety of magazines. The chairman chose the month of March for the inauguration as it was the month that witnessed the launch of the very first newspaper in Bahrain in 1939. By founding this archive, the National Library aims to serve the researchers and intellectuals and promote Bahraini journalistic heritage. The archive has its importance in archiving newspapers issued before 2002, which were only in paper form and not digitalized.