Initialed on the sidelines of the 29th International Book and Publishing Fair (SIEL) by the interim director of the BNRM, Latifa Moftaqir, and the president of the BNF, Gilles Pécout, in the presence of the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, and the French Ambassador to Morocco, Christophe Lecourtier, this agreement marks an important step in cultural cooperation between France and Morocco, allowing the two libraries to pool their skills and implement concrete projects in areas of common interest.
This document provides for the development of cooperation programs in the digitalization of documentary collections, the establishment of training actions and the exchange of expertise between the staff of the two libraries, the organization of joint cultural and scientific events and the sharing of documentary resources and digital tools.
It is also a shared desire to promote the cultural heritage of the two countries and a commitment to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of Moroccan and French documentary wealth.
In a statement to the press, Ms. Moftaqir indicated that this memorandum of understanding is part of the extension of the cooperation, started in 2004, between the two institutions which are now opening up to other areas, including digitization, library management and training.
For his part, Mr. Pécout expressed his joy at the signing of this agreement with the BNRM, which aims to be “a great library” on the African continent, noting that this initiative is part of the continuity of an “extremely close” relationship between the two countries and the two institutions.
This agreement “recalls what were and what continue to be the relations between the two libraries”, he noted, stressing the need to intensify them in the area of exchange of good practices on heritage collections, that of training, internships and future events to be prepared jointly.
The conclusion of this bilateral agreement also comes following the meeting of the French-speaking digital network which also leads to technical cooperation around modernity and artificial intelligence in the years to come, he continued.
It should be noted that the two parties are linked by four agreements, the first signed in December 2004 relating to the construction and modernization project of the BNRM, and the second in February 2008 focusing on methodological and technological support for the BNRM.
A third agreement was signed in May 2011 with the aim of strengthening cooperation actions in the fields of library science, public reception and cultural programming, and also digital cooperation which revolves around participation in the Digital Francophone Network, and a fourth in October 2014 in the area of heritage conservation.
2024-09-14 10:46:34