World Library and Information Congress, Milan, 2009 - IFLA

Speaking of libraries in Palestine is not easy, as
organizations and initiatives are made and unmade
almost daily.
Information Sources
The sources of information are scarce 1 , and concepts
that seem most common to us need most
often to be explained. The most comprehensive
source is the study published in 1996 by the
Ministry of Culture of the Palestinian Authority
in Arabic, with support from the British Council.
This study identifi es the libraries, services offered,
the qualifi cations of the personnel and the diffi -
culties encountered. It offers recommendations for
the development of public reading and libraries.
It enumerates total of 295 non-academic libraries,
of which 119 are public libraries, with only
25 youth sections, 44 university libraries and 117
specialized or private libraries. Very few meet
international standards, most often suffering
from lack of dedicated buildings, equipment,
professional skills, and especially funding.
It should also be noted that many libraries
identifi ed as public libraries are in fact private
faith or family libraries: there is therefore a real
void in the area of public reading.
In August 2000, at the 66th IFLA Council and
General Conference held in Jerusalem, a Norwegian
librarian, Erling Bergan presented a paper on
‘Libraries in the West Bank and Gaza: Obstacles
and possibilities’(http://archive.ifl a.org/IV/ifl a66/
papers/170-172e.htm) which incorporates the
results of the study of 1996, enriched by visits he
had been able to make. It provides an updated
description of the main public libraries: Nablus
(70,000 volumes, 27 staff), Ramallah (40,000
volumes, 5 staff) and El Bireh (15,000 volumes,
6 staff). It also mentions the public libraries of
Tulkarm, Jenin, Hebron and Jericho in the West
Bank, of Gaza City and Rafah in the Gaza Strip,
and notes that there is no public library in
Bethlehem. In East Jerusalem, he cites the library
of the Al Ansari family (40,000 volumes), open to
the public, and that of Orient House, which, with
its historical collections, was functioning virtually
as a national library.
Erling Bergan also identified libraries of Bir
Zeit University in Ramallah (110,000 volumes,
Libraries in Palestine
26 staff), An-Najah University in Nablus
(130,000 volumes, 22 staff), Bethlehem University
(100,000 volumes, university founded in 1973 by
Pope Paul VI, open to all, both Christians and Muslims)
and those of various campuses of Al Quds
University around Jerusalem (75,000 volumes,
26 staff), the universities in Gaza and Hebron,
as well as Al Quds Open University centres, free
and unsupported by a religious institution or by
the state, including one in Bethlehem. He fi nally
states that school libraries, few in number in the
public sector, are more prevalent in the private
sector and in the 640 schools run by the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency United Nations
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),
the UN agency responsible for the education of
children in refugee camps and refugee population
zones.
It is diffi cult to identify the special libraries, mostly
very small religious or thematic units – on the
condition of women, human rights, the environment,
the problem of refugees, etc. – most often
associative, supported by foreign NGOs. It is
also diffi cult to enumerate all the libraries which
preserve heritage, mostly collections of manuscripts
in varying quantities, among which we may
note the library of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
that houses beautiful Arabic manuscripts.
In 1994, the Palestinian Library Association saw
the light of day, but, being subject to restrictions on
assembly and movement imposed by the occupying
power, it is diffi cult for it to play a major role
in the development of libraries. Also, due to lack
of professional training locally, most Palestinian
librarians have had to train abroad, resulting in a
mismatch between training and practice.
The Present
Following the 1996 report, and because of the
diffi culties in establishing a proper network of
public libraries, the Ministry of Culture of the
Palestinian Authority decided to concentrate its
efforts on youth reading with a program that
focuses on the creation and development of
60 libraries for youth, assisted for 3 years by
Switzerland and Sweden. This plan included the
construction and equipping of libraries, an allocation
of 1,000 books and educational games, and
training of two teachers per site in collaboration
with the Ministry of Education.
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