Restored library opens at Fine Arts Museum
The newly restored Vincenzo Bonello art library at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta is now open.
The library is a valuable source of reference material for researchers and curators as it houses important and rare archives and books.
The three-year restoration project was entirely funded by the HSBC Cares for Malta’s Heritage Fund.
HSBC is the official patron of the National Museum of Fine Arts, run by Heritage Malta. The restoration project consisted of the construction of a new library - a two-tier structure with a split level housing the Museum’s archives.
The lower part houses the library catalogued on the Online Public Access Catalog. The library also includes a collection of exhibition leaflets and brochures, journals and inventory cards.
Over the past four years, the HSBC Cares for Malta’s Heritage Fund contributed around €100,000 to the National Museum of Fine Arts for ongoing refurbishment projects, including the development of the lower galleries and the setting up of the library.
The bank’s close relationship with the museum dates back to 2003 when the bank loaned the museum, on a permanent basis, the Malta Turner Watercolour, a painting of the Grand Harbour which is the highlight of the museum’s 19th century collection and the only Maltese landscape known by renowned British watercolourist J.M.W. Turner.
As a group, HSBC supports the economies and societies in which it operates worldwide through donations of time and money. It also partners with reputable organisations that make a difference in their respective fields and remains involved in the decisions about how the money is spent.
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Max Farrugia
Nov 20th 2009, 23:40
Whilst congratulating Both HSBC and Malta Heritage for the new library, I appeal to HSBC that from thier fund HSBC Cares for Malta, other agencies or NGO working in the same field can benefit too. I know groups who asked for small some of money from the bank fund to start particular projects in the same field, that is culturae and heritage, and for unkonown reasons the proposals they submitted where never met. I remind the management of this fund that their clients does not work with the Malta Heritage only but in various other entities.
Russell Muscat
Nov 20th 2009, 20:00
@ Laurence Zerafa Heritage Malta offers that kind of service. Besides from the newly restored VB Library at the National Museum of Fine Arts HM has other libraries in several museums and offers that kind of service to the general public. Information is available on www.heritagemalta.org and follow the Education/Library/Facilities link.
Laurence Zerafa
Nov 20th 2009, 16:39
The Malta Library and Information Association (MaLIA) welcomes such news with great pleasure. It is good to note that the opening of new libraries is seen as a worthwhile investment by parent organisations, in this case Heritage Malta. The support from HSBC too is much appreciated.
Heritage Malta would do well to make this library available to the interested public carrying out research at post-secondary and graduate level. If need be through application and a subscription.
The final thanks and appreciation of course goes to the librarian in charge. We all know what hard work it takes to create and maintain such libraries. Well done indeed.
Laurence Zerafa
Chairperson/PRO MaLIA
www.malia-malta.org/