Ahmed Salah, 40, of the Moulaye Mhamed Ould Ahmed Sherif Library holds one of his manuscripts in old city in Chinguetti, on March 17, 2023. - The library has been operated by the family for 20 years and have held the documents for 5 generations.
In Chinguetti, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there are 13 libraries with preserved documents of which 5 are open to the public. These libraries are all privately owned and have 6000 documents in total presently. The documents range from the Quran to Islamic law, astronomy, mathematics and poetry and were collected by the founders during pilgrimages to Mecca and other trips. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)