Iran’s largest library founded by patrons opened on September 15 in Zanjan Province.
Seyyed Afzal Mousavi Public Library is now the seventh library in Zanjan, founded by patrons, and the largest philanthropic library in Iran. It is located in Golshahr-Kazemieh satellite town near the city of Zanjan, capital of Zanjan Province.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ali Jannati, politician Seyyed Afzal Mousavi who is active in developmental projects and Abbas Mosallanejad, secretary general of Iran Public Libraries Foundation and founder of Mosallanejad Cultural Foundation.
The Supreme Leader’s representative in Zanjan, Ayatollah Ali Khatami, Governor General of the province Asadollah Darvish Amiri and a group of provincial authorities were also present, ISNA reported.
Construction work of the library started in 2013. It is built on an area of 6,500 sq meters and has a built-in area of 2,700 sq meters.
The library opened with 20,000 books. It has various sections such as study halls, archive, conference hall, reference, research center, publications, online service, a center for Zanjan-oriented studies, a workshop, a gallery and a separate section for children and young adults.
It is founded by Mosallanejad Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Tehran. The foundation was established in 1996 for supporting cultural and educational activities.
Since 2001, the foundation has undertaken 60 projects to build schools, a cultural center, hostels for students, college and sports complex in different provinces.
