Bank of Valletta is supporting the National Library Restoration Project, a long-term project aiming to restore numerous priceless books found at the National Library to their original condition.

The Project, an initiative spear-headed by the Sliema Lions Club Sliema, has seen the purchase of a leaf-casting machine, a specialized piece of equipment that replaces missing areas in paper with fibers suspended in a liquid medium. Using this machine, damage to paper can be repaired very quickly with as little distortion to the original document as possible.

The press conference was addressed by Education Minister Dolores Cristina, Charles Borg, Chief Officer at Bank of Valletta and Alfred Micallef Attard, President of the Lions Club Sliema.

The Minister thanked the staff at the restoration laboratory for the continuous efforts in restoring the library’s priceless treasures. “I take this opportunity to thank Lions Club Sliema for their efforts in bringing together the sponsors, both local and foreign, to undertake this project of such national value”.

“Bank of Valletta is proud to be associated with a project that will see documents dating back to the Knights of St John restored to their original state” said Mr. Borg. “The Bank is a strong supporter of major restoration projects in Malta and we recognise the importance of the historical content of these books which will still be available to future generations through this restoration project”.

Mr Micallef Attard outlined the work carried out by the Lions Club Sliema to make the National Library Book Restoration Project a success and he thanked both the members of the club and the sponsors for their help. Mr. Micallef Attard concluded by encouraging the public to join up in this project and announced that the Lions Club Sliema would be looking into the possibility of setting up a ‘Friends of the National Library’ association.

The Royal Malta Golf Club and NGK Spark Plugs USA are also supporting this project.