Library on the Move Written by Diana Atallah
Published Monday, January 14, 2013
Get In the Taxi, Pick Up a Book
Ramallah
- Palestinian passengers will be more tempted to read books after a new
reading campaign is launched next week. A group of young writers are
gathering books to put in mini-vans linking major cities in the West Bank, routes that can waste hours.
Wiam
Karyouti, a sales employee and a young writer, first thought of the
campaign when a passenger next to him asked him if he had another book
for him to read. “I usually read in the taxi and carry books with me. I
handed him a novel and he gave it back to me at the end of the ride
saying he would go buy it,” Karyouti told The Media Line.
The
incident triggered Karyouti to think of ways to encourage reading and
use the spare taxi time only to find that taxi drivers welcomed the
initiative of putting books in their orange-painted service cars, which
take up to seven passengers.
Karyouti
and his colleagues at a young writers club called “Bastet Ibda"
(Creativity Peddlers) volunteered to make their idea come true and
advertised for the campaign through their Facebook pages.
Since
their announcement on December 26, they have received 600 books donated
by NGOs, publishing houses, intellectuals and individuals who came to
the collecting points in different West Bank cities.
After
the collecting ends this week, seven or eight will be available in a
cloth bag near each driver in 311 taxis for passengers to read. “The
topics range from religion, science history and arts, to novels and
children books, because we think that parents might travel with their
kids,” Karyouti added.
“We
still need another 600 books, but we won’t distribute all of them at
once. We plan to periodically renew new books in taxis," Karyouti
explained.
Intellectuals
and young writers agree that reading is not very popular among
Palestinians and think the education system and lack of government
support has a role in pushing people away from reading.
“I
see the same groups of people in book readings,” says Karyouti, who
hopes that when he publishes his first poetry book, he will rely on
friends to encourage their connections to read it.
Abd
El Salam Khaddash, the Reading Campaigns Manager at Tamer Community
Education Institute, told The Media Line the Palestinian curriculum
doesn’t make students thirsty for knowledge and learning.
Khaddash added that the curriculum depends on memorizing books by heart, and doesn’t encourage creative thinking.
Tamer
championed reading campaigns for the past 20 years focusing on a
different topic each year. Last year, their “Father: read for me”
campaign events included distributing children books in the dentists’
waiting rooms.
Although
Ramallah’s public library, not far from the city center, has more than
40,000 books in different topics and languages, it only served around
7,000 visitors of the city’s 30,000 inhabitants during 2012. Around
300,000 people live within the borders of the governorate of Ramallah
and Al Bireh and neighboring villages.
“A
few visitors come for the sake of reading, but we have housewives,
workers and retired people who come to read for fun. Students visit
because they are required to study and read for their research papers,”
library supervisor Ruba Husseini told The Media Line.
In
2012, around 1,000 books were loaned to the library’s subscribers who
pay a yearly fee that doesn’t exceed $10. Using the library is free of
charge unless photocopying is needed.
Khaddash
thinks that reading has become less of a priority these days. “I was a
student in the eighties and people were eager to know what would happen
next with their lives, especially politically,” he said.
Tamer works with 75 libraries in the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip and around 50 public schools libraries to encourage
reading. “We think that the librarians can play a part in encouraging
learning and education but their salaries are too low and some work as
volunteers,” Khaddash said.
He
added that there is a problem with both libraries. Some community
libraries are the first facilities to be affected when the local
municipalities face financial difficulties. Also, the absence of
specific reading classes in many schools or using this class for exams
studying makes school libraries less useful to students.
Hala Kaileh, the manager of a libraries enhancement project in the Ramallah Municipality,
told The Media Line that the municipality is working to develop reading
in the Palestinian society. The municipality set up a new children's
library to help make reading a habit for children. “Content of books is
important but the library looking good is important to attract visitors,
and we’re working on developing the children's library and including a
film room as well,” Kaileh said.
Karyouti
is not worried if people decide to borrow or keep the books they read
in the taxis for themselves. “If I win a reader, I wouldn’t mind losing a
book,” he cheerfully told The Media Line.
Khaddash told The Media Line
he is optimistic. “I interview hundreds of people for jobs, and I care
less for their university marks. Now parents care more for their
children to be educated rather than being at the top of their class,” he
said.
Khaddash
added that it’s not important that readers increase by a thousand, but
rather to broaden the idea into the importance of education and reading
in life.
