Museums asked to create prayer rooms
LUCY ADAMS. Chief Reporter

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1330123.0.museums_aske
d_to_create_prayer_rooms.php

"Glasgow's museums and libraries have been asked to set aside a prayer
room to encourage people of different faiths to use them.

Museums asked to create prayer rooms
LUCY ADAMS. Chief Reporter

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1330123.0.museums_as...

"Glasgow's museums and libraries have been asked to set aside a prayer
room to encourage people of different faiths to use them.

The Burrell Collection, the Kelvingrove Museum and the Gallery of
Modern Art are among those which have been asked to make facilities
available for those who wish to pray during the day.

Some Muslims pray five times a day and officials believe many are
inconvenienced by the lack of specific facilities. There are an
estimated 50,000 Muslims in Scotland, four-fifths of whom stay in
Glasgow. Sikhs also pray during the day but have a less structured
timetable.

Tom Harrigan, the council's inter-faith liaision officer, has
encouraged museums to become more user-friendly for people of a
variety of faiths.

St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life and Art has a room available to
people on request. Other museums are expected to follow its example
depending on the space available.

"This applies across the city council," said Mr Harrigan. "It is not
just about museums but about all the council buildings including
venues such as libraries. The aim is to make a room available for
quiet contemplation so people from any faith or indeed none can go
there. If people want to make a day of it at one of the museums we
want to make sure they are able to follow their faith and that they
have somewhere quiet to go."

He is also helping to arrange group visits for asylum seekers who, he
says, often feel too intimidated to use the facilities. "We have had
groups of people coming in from Sighthill and other areas and we are
working with a number of organisations to make sure people realise the
museums are here to be used by everyone in the community."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "We are considering in
which of our venues the idea might work."