CLOSURE: Central Library will be closed Tuesday, July 21 through Saturday, July 25 while emergency repairs are made to the building’s cooling system. We expect to reopen Monday, July 27. Click for more details on holds, program schedule and returns during this closure. 

World Heritage Sites

Summary

Beginning in the 16th century, the Malian trading city of Timbuktu became a center of learning, literature, and Islamic knowledge, famous throughout the Muslim world. Follow the great flourishing of intellectual culture there, as seen in hundreds of thousands of ancient Arabic manuscripts that remain from the era, now preserved in libraries and attracting international attention from scholars.

Subjects