Over 850 Maltese books are making their way to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and Belgium in a new initiative to set up libraries for Maltese diasporas across the world.
The Directorate for Consular Services and Maltese Living Abroad within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, in collaboration with Ċentru tal-Ilsien Malti, within the Ministry for National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government have teamed up with other national agencies, including the National Literacy Agency and Malta Libraries, to set up these libraries in areas which can reach a substantial Maltese diaspora.
The first books in this initiative for Maltese diplomatic missions have already reached the Maltese Embassy in Brussels, Belgium. Other books donated through this collaboration are now being shipped to the other embassies as well.
To consolidate this collaboration, the Directorate has signed an agreement with Ċentru tal-Ilsien Malti, to provide linguistic services to the directorate and to Maltese communities abroad, with plans for more future projects promoting the Maltese language among the Maltese diasporas. This agreement was signed by Christopher Cutajar, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Tourism and Dr Maris Camilleri, Acting Chief Executive of Ċentru tal-Ilsien Malti, who were accompanied by Chirelle Ellul Sciberras, Director Consular Services and Maltese Living Abroad and Kevin Mahoney, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government.
Each of the Maltese libraries abroad will include a selection of genres and topics for all ages and interests, including comics and popular stories translated into Maltese, evidencing the diversity of Malta’s national heritage. Malta Libraries has also contributed with books in English about Maltese heritage. This allows readers who do not know the Maltese language the opportunity to discover and engage with Maltese history and culture.
Academic Dr Charles Daniel Saliba has also contributed to these new libraries by donating complete sets of the first level of the Maltese for Foreigners series, while author Charles Buttigieg contributed books from his series Karamellu tar-Raħal t’Isfel.
The new libraries and other related initiatives as part of this collaboration will be a valuable resource for the educational or cultural programmes of Maltese representations abroad, as they promote and encourage interest in the Maltese language. They will foster cultural exchange between the Maltese islands and communities of Maltese and Gozitans living abroad, giving visitors to Maltese embassies the opportunity to explore the richness of the Maltese language.
Photo: MFT/MHAL
