The Vision Library, situated on the CUE campus in the district of Ankawa in Erbil, is a public library constructed with the financial assistance of Vision Education. It spans 2,650 square meters, boasts a contemporary design, and features three floors that are accessible to all for studying and research purposes. It has the capacity to hold up to 600 individuals at once.
The inauguration was attended by political and religious figures, as well as consulate representatives in Erbil.
“In Vision Education, we strongly believe that education is the foundation of building a country. We invest in those organizations that are leaders in social change through strengthening the individuals of our society,” Sara Salahaddin Mustafa, CEO of Vision Education, told Rudaw English.
Mustafa said that their presence at CUE was “living proof” of their strong belief and labeled Vision Library “one of the most important outcomes” of Vision Education.
The library, with a capacity of 20,000 books and an e-library with subscriptions to over 60 academic platforms, is open to everyone for 12 hours daily, says CUE President Dr. Nizar Shibali.
“We have a couple of digital libraries, we are subscribed to Reasearch4Life, JSTOR...a couple of important digital libraries in fact. you can find five million resources available and accessible for the people,” Shibali said.
The library's opening offers a one-of-a-kind experience for students who are fueled by their passion for academia and are committed to their educational journey. Yohana Alzeebaree, a student at CUE who works at Vision Library, considers the launch of the library to be "important for education and knowledge".
“It is importance signifies the kind of strength that we have through students. students are the future, they are the ones who are going to shape our country. Through a better education, we can get a better Kurdistan,” he said.
At the inauguration, students from various universities in Erbil were present, including Solin Zana who studies medicine at the University of Kurdistan Hewler (UKH). While browsing through the medical books in a section of the library, Zana said she was impressed by the extensive medical resources available, covering all the specialties she intends to study during her undergraduate studies. She said it was her first time seeing such a well-stocked library.
Zana said that she plans to come back with her friends to the library, "I was talking about it [coming back to the library] with my friend, she is studying architecture, we were looking at the books and everything is perfect here. Even for studying. It is very clean and the decoration is perfect. It is the perfect library,” she said.
According to the Kurdistan Region's general directorate of public libraries, there are 92 public libraries in the Region that house over 850,000 books and journals. Most of these libraries are situated in Erbil province, followed by Sulaimani, Duhok, and Halabja.
