Under the patronage of the Minister of Culture, Mrs. Siham Al-Barghuthi, and in cooperation with the Palestinian Association of Libraries and Information and An Najah National University libraries, a seminar titled "Libraries and Cultural Centers in Palestine and Jerusalem and their Cultural Role" had been held at the Martyr Zafer Al-Masri Auditorium at An Najah National University on Thursday, 3^rd of December 2009.

Among those who attended the seminar was the Minister of Culture Mrs. Siham Al-Barghuthi, Prof. Maher Abu Eid as a representative of the University President, Prof. Rami Hamdallah, Dr. Hani Jaber Director of the Palestinian Association of Libraries and Information in addition to others. Mrs. Siham Al-Barghuthi delivered her speech in which she explained the role that the Ministry of Culture is carrying out in order to support the Palestinian cultural project and to raise awareness of Palestinian culture.

"Since the dawn of history, libraries have been considered a preserver of people's culture and civilization since they contain their manuscripts and historical documents that we pass from one civilization to another” Prof. Abu Eid said.

Dr. Hani Jaber, stressed the importance of Jerusalem and that this seminar comes to highlight the role of the libraries in Jerusalem in supporting the Palestinian culture and the significant historical heritage of the city.

The seminar included a number of topics that were discussed among the participants such as the intellectual movement in Jerusalem, short story writers, archiving the Palestinian heritage and culture, schools in Jerusalem, libraries in the city and many others.