Qatar opens new state-of-the-art ‘noisy’ library

Qatar hopes its new national library will appeal to today’s children and prepare them for a future in leadership and business.

In today’s on-demand, instant digital world, many libraries have to shrug off their quiet, stuffy image.

Qatar’s new national library opens on Tuesday in the capital’s Education City area, aside from having the capacity to house over one million books, the library offers computer terminals, music studios, 3-D printers, and a stage for performances.

It also proudly boasts a “noisy” section for children where the old rule of silence in the stacks no longer applies.

It’s all part of the country’s effort to refocus its economy to one based on knowledge and education.

Al Jazeera’s Rob Matheson reports from Doha.