11 - 17 October 2001
Issue No.555
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 11 - 17 October 2001 Issue No.555 |
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Off the shelves
The Reading for All festival has brought new readers to libraries in droves all summer. What happens as autumn draws in? Aline Kazandjian turns the page
Last week, 17 million children went back to school in Egypt. The summer holidays are over; long evenings of homework and hours of stressful examinations will hang heavy over their heads in the coming months. Even the summer holidays were not all fun and games, however -- at least, not in the book- burning spirit that seems to prevail as soon as school lets out every summer. Many children spent much of their leisure time... reading.
By the book: paradoxically, school signals a drop in reading as a leisure activity, with private lessons and homework overloads making it an often unaffordable proposition
photos: Mohamed Wassim
Karima Abdel-Hadi sits on a small bench in a corner of the colourful children's section at the Mubarak Public Library, reading to her six-year-old daughter Israa. She could be reenacting the television advertisement that shows Mrs Suzanne Mubarak reading to a group of children. The ad promotes the theme of the Reading for All festival this year: "Read To Your Child." Karima joined the library this summer, persuaded by the promotional campaign on national television. Her husband is an accountant. "The [library] membership fee is very reasonable. I can't afford to buy Israa books all the time," she explains. "This way I can borrow five books for us every time I come to the library."
The state-of-the-art Mubarak Public Library in Giza opened in 1995. The regal three- storey villa belonged at one time to the late minister of defence, Abdel-Hakim Amer. Today, swarms of youngsters dart in and out of the place as if it were the hippest hang-out in town. "The image of a library has changed in people's minds," says Hossam Osman, director of external services at the library, referring to the effects of the reading festival. "A library was a gloomy place with books covered in dust and an old librarian sitting in the corner," he says, invoking memories shared by many Egyptians who grew up in the '70s and '80s "I think what the Reading Festival did will leave an imprint on a whole generation."
To lure the Internet generation in, however, far more was necessary than a clean, air- conditioned library and young, smiling librarians. Libraries all over the country (including some school libraries, which open specifically for the festival in summertime) have organised a myriad of activities attractive to young people: acting and singing workshops, computer courses and, most recently, Internet access.
Sixteen-year-old Ahmed Mursi is taking part in the chess championship organised by the Mubarak Library. He became a member four years ago. He lives in the Pyramids district and in summer visits the library three or four times a week. "I like coming to the library because I've made many friends here," Ahmed says. His favorite place is the audio- visual department, which offers a wide range of documentaries.
At the other end of the city, a group of enraptured teens were preparing to perform in the end-of-summer concert organised by a branch of the Mubarak Public Library. This one is located in Zeitun, a poor, industrial neighbourhood where the majority of the adult population is in fact illiterate. The one- storey library, which nestles in a garden (sufficient temptation, since green space is so scarce), was built on the site of a former garbage dump. The library is surrounded by run- down, matchbox apartment buildings. Garbage is still piled in mounds on the street, but inside the library it feels like a different world.
When the library opened three years ago, visitors were not aware of the code of conduct required. "They were not used to sitting and reading quietly," says Osama Gharib, the supervisor. "We knew that if we kept hushing them up and antagonising them, they would be fed up and leave." With a lot of patience and a friendly attitude, his team was able to attract 3,700 members, over double the number they started with. The bulk of members are between eight and 15 years old. "This is a very positive sign, because they are the future generation," says Gharib, visibly satisfied with the outcome of the team's efforts.
Along with a new generation of readers, a new generation of books has come into existence through the Reading Festival programme, now past its tenth anniversary. The General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) has published 100 titles to date, producing millions of affordable copies. This summer the new Read to Your Child series produced 10 titles a month at LE1 a book. These are quality print children's books with an educational angle designed for preschoolers. Apparently, they have been selling like candy.
An encyclopaedia of world civilisations in 22 volumes which sells at LE150 (instead of its market value of around LE5,000) is this year's bestseller. Families with a little cash to spare are snapping it up. The Family Library's prices range from PT50 to a maximum of LE7.
Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Aziz, an English- language teacher from Shubra Al-Kheima, is stocking up on books from the Family Library series at a downtown bookshop. He said he makes the one-hour trip from his house three or four times every summer to see what new books have come out. "I have most of the books published by the Family Library in my personal collection," he declares. What about the shortcomings of the Reading for All Festival? Abdel-Aziz jokes: "It's like the Metro -- you can't find any loopholes." His only complaint is that not enough copies are printed; "especially when it comes to series of books, sometimes you cannot get all the volumes because the series is not printed all at once and each batch sells out almost immediately," he says.
"We have lines like a co-op during the sugar shortage," confirms Ihab Badawi, manager of a GEBO outlet. A recent visit supports his statement: he has to turn away many customers because the books they are asking for have sold out. Other titles lie moldering on the shelves; people, Badawi explains, are only interested in the Family Library publications.
Experts believe that the vast majority of those who are reaping the fruits of the project belong to the urban middle class. The festival has been less effective in the countryside, where living conditions, especially for children whose parents are illiterate farmers, are not conducive to the promotion of reading. According to Hossam Osman of the Mubarak Library, "mobile libraries, which are already part of the festival, can be instrumental in dealing with this problem. But they need to be sent out more vigorously in the coming years."
In major cities, the project's success is evident from the increase in membership numbers at public libraries and the huge demand on the books that hit the market every summer. But once school starts up again, the enthusiasm drops like a rock. Libraries are empty except for a few senior citizens and perhaps some university students. And the book vendors are busy dusting their shelves.
The children are busy with homework. "It is a fatal problem," Hala Sherif, deputy director of the Mubarak Library, complains. "Schools must find a way to change teaching methods so that knowledge is not linked only to the national curriculum."
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