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[nomad soul]

With reading habit dying out, libraries become ‘ghost houses’
Saudi Gazette report | May 26, 2014
Source: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140526206390

JEDDAH - The three-story Jeddah public library is located in Al-Nuzlah Al-Yamaniah neighborhood, in the south of the city, and its rundown condition resembles a deserted ghost house, Makkah daily reported. The head of the library, Ezzat Murad, said the responsibility of the library was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Information three years ago. At the time, the library was in a bad condition and was partially refurbished. Murad said the library provides books in both hard copy and electronic format. He noted that the library’s location has contributed to a lack of visitors. "A plan was discussed with the minister of information to open a branch of the library in the northern part of Jeddah,” he said.

The three-story library is divided into separate halls, but it lacks basic facilities such as an information center. The archives and classification section is located in a small corner of the library and is equipped with two desks but no employees or even a computer. There are also no tables or chairs for visitors and there is no multimedia section in the library. The third floor contains rare books that are completely unprotected, while the foreign books section is dusty and poorly ventilated. The women’s section has seven employees but no supervisor or an administrator.

Visitor Ibrahim Al-Rekhaimi said it was his first time visiting the library, and he was surprised to find it empty. “There was only one employee inside who looked very bored. He did, however, show me around the library but it smelled bad and when I found a reference book I was looking for, it was completely damaged and of no use,” he said. He also noted that he had to use the stairs because the elevator was out of order and the lack of lighting forced him to use his mobile phone’s camera flash to look for books. Furthermore, the library does not have internet service for research and there was no way to search its database. When Al-Rekhaimi wanted to check out a book, he was told that he had to fill out a form, which would then be sent to Riyadh for approval.

Makkah, the city of knowledge and center of revelation, has tens of public libraries with many valuable books that remain untouched for many years. Today, people have stopped visiting the city's public library to spend some time and enrich their souls. People tend to buy books, put them on the shelves and never touch them again. They never read them.

Makkah daily met several residents of the city — some employed and some students — and asked them about the reasons why people have stopped reading or lost interest in this important habit. They agreed that many people do not go to the library as it was the case in the past. In fact, the last time the young men Makkah daily interviewed visited a public library was a decade ago during the days when they were still students. They only went there because their professors required them to conduct research. They said that in the past five years, they have not purchased any books to read or to keep up with the events or to increase their knowledge.

Member of Makkah Cultural Club Dr. Abdullah Ibrahim said until recently, libraries used to be thronged by visitors, but today, things have changed due to several factors, the most important of which is the presence of a number of competent cultural centers that have books selected carefully. Ibrahim confirmed that the number of visitors is just a handful except for the newspaper corner, which people visit in order to read news on sports.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jazan Literary Club Al-Hassan Bin Ahmed Al-Khairat attributed the reasons why so many people have stopped going to public libraries to modern technology. "Today, you can download books off the internet and read them instead of going to a public library. Everything is available at a click away. So why bother and go to a library?" He agreed that many students fail to develop the habit of reading in school and at home.

(End of article)

[Rostom]

Well, nomad soul, I will not be surprised, the Saudis do not have the culture of reading as you find it in the West.
Even thought the words "read" and "pen" were mentioned in the first verse in the Quran:
"Read [O Muhammad!] in the name of your Lord who created. (96.1) He created man from a clot. (96.2) Read, and your Lord is the Most Honorable (96.3) who taught with the pen. (96.4)"


Don't be surprised to find that Shisha, Shawarma, and McDonalds restaurants attract more people than libraries in the Magic Kingdom!

[cmp45]

I predict most libraries will be come future museums of the 22nd century. Everything will be technologized and paper books will become something to look at but not to touch; only the very select elite will get to fondle them or perhaps turn them into boutique cafes. Give Saudis a reason for going in...

[mashkif]

[scot47]

Reading - and libraries - never have caught on in the ME. It seems to be in decline in the West too ! "Der Untergang des Abendlandeds". I really must get round to learning Mandarin.

[plumpy nut]

That's not the only problem. One of my students was telling me, for the few Saudis that want to read at the library, there are problems with knowing when to go. The library may be open for women one day, and open for men the other day. Of course that's in addition to the problem of arriving and getting kicked out during prayers.

[veiledsentiments]

I read the headline and thought "What reading habit?" In 15+ years of teaching in this part of the world, I had exactly 3 students who read for pleasure... and after the internet arrived, none of them even had to go to the library for research.

VS

[CANDLES]

They are into 'self-help' books.

Some of the students used to try and get me to read them, but I declined due to overloading of my brain power trying to get them to 'learn' something!

[scot47]

I recommend a visit to any branch of Jareer Bookstore. Look at the nonsense that is for sale. "Self-help" is not what I would call them !

You know the kind of thing "Seven Secrets of Succesfully Psychotic Supervisors" etc

[CANDLES]

Yep! It was something to do with 'secrets'?????

[trapezius]

Reading habits have always been nearly non-existent, and libraries have always been ghost houses.

There is a public library in Jeddah? I have lived in Jeddah my whole life, and I did not know that. Over the years, many people have asked me if there is a public library here, and I have responded in the negative. And I have asked people as well, but no one knows it exists.

If most people don't even know that a public library exists in the city, what does that say about the city or the country? More people here, especially locals, know about the various "haunted abandoned buildings" in Jeddah than the number of people who know about this library, which seems to be like another haunted building.

[johnslat]

Question: Do ghost libraries contain only books written by ghost writers?

Regards,
John

[Rostom]

[CANDLES]

And so it goes to show that an average 'Jinn' is going to be more informed and well read than your average pleb 'student'!

[nomad soul]

Citizens, expats demand more public libraries in country
By Rodolfo C. Estimo Jr., Arab News | 20 June 2014
Source: http://www.arabnews.com/news/589431

RIYADH--Residents in the Kingdom have urged the government to build more public libraries to inculcate habit of reading and learning in various disciplines among the youth, teenagers and professionals.
“There are only about 83 public libraries all over the Kingdom,” said a Shoura member and former professor at the King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh. If there are more libraries, he said, they will encourage habit of reading among the general public because there will be outlets for the youth and professionals to avail themselves of good reading materials.

Educators believe the number of libraries in the Kingdom is disproportionate to the population which now touches 29,195,895.

An Internet blogger, Jvalanciunas said, “Hopefully, there will be more public libraries in the Kingdom to enable the culture of reading.” Ahsia Yousaf, a schoolteacher, said the Saudi government should act to engender interest in reading among children, adding that most children spend their free time surfing the web or playing games. “Many people think that reading takes more time than getting a quick synopsis off the web,” the Dammam-based schoolteacher said. Yousaf added that there’s an urgent need to cultivate reading among children so that they can pass it down the generations.

Jeanette Arenque, a teacher in Riyadh who received her education degree from the Philippine Normal University (PNU) in Manila, added that reading also exerts an invisible and formative influence on one’s character. She said that she and her husband are trying to wean their two children off computer games and encourage them to read books.

A Saudi woman blogger said, “If only young Saudi women knew the astronomical change reading would make in how they view the world.” “It is unfortunate that Saudi young women limit themselves to Arabic women magazines,” she said. She blamed the schools for not encouraging children to appreciate books. “The majority of schools do not even have a library. The poor quality of Arabic literature for children also plays a role. The books lack creativity and the quality of publishing is very poor. To top it all, it is difficult to access books with book stores being few and far between,” she concluded.

Julia Simpson-Urrutia, in her blog entitled “Book Publishing Around the World” said, “As a writer who lived for almost two decades in Saudi Arabia, I can say that most people who read ‘new’ books are college- educated and can read and write in more than one language.”

One very important reason for the youth being hooked on the Internet is that most of the prescribed literature in universities is now available in PDF format or on CDs. “Students don’t take notes anymore because lectures are now available online,” said a Jeddah-based computer programmer, Muhammad Amir. Hadiya Sheikh, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, said: “I used to read novels but now find screen adaptations more interesting.” Muhammad Ibrar, a Riyadh-based Pakistani, begged to differ: “Traditional books in print form remain the most reliable source of information among students.”

However, supermarket stores selling newspapers and magazines have reported that their sales have spiraled downward.

According to a report, an average Arab child reads only six minutes a year in comparison to Western children, who average around 12,000 minutes a year. An adult in the Arab world reads on average a quarter of a page a year compared to an American adult, who reads around 11 books, or a British adult who reads about seven. Farooq Hassan, a business development director in the Central province, said: “People strongly believe they can learn from the Internet, yet the information found in books is more profound.”

(End of article)