Books and documents at the National Archives, dating as far back as the 1500s, are to be restored at a new laboratory within the Rabat library.

Education Minister Dolores Cristina said setting up the laboratory was a natural step after the archives became an agency in 2005. The archives contain one of the largest collections in Malta, spanning from the 1530s to the present day.

Mrs Cristina thanked composer Charles Camilleri’s family for donating his original works.