Two million people, only two libraries [Archives:2007/1110/Culture]
Hamed Thabet
With a population of two million, the capital city's only two public libraries are insufficient for education and gaining knowledge. Hamed Thabet reports.
Early on the morning of Dec. 5, researcher Amani Abdullah patiently waited with others for the library reference number of the book she wanted. However, only one individual knows the location of every book and that's librarian Abdullah Al-Sharafi, who just marked 20 years of working at the Yemen Center for Study and Research.
Because he's the only one who knows their locations, Al-Sharafi is responsible for fetching the books. It took Abdullah about half an hour to reach Al-Sharafi and request her book. She complains, “Every time I come to the library, I have the same problem, which is requesting only one title and having to wait a long time until I get it.”
The library contains a small hall with a capacity for about 10 individuals who may use it for reading, while the rest must read standing up or wait for a vacant seat.
The same problem exists at Beit Al-Thaqafah's library, where most of the time, patrons fight with each other to find their title's reference number, as well as fighting with librarian Mahmoud Al-Khameri, who has worked there 16 years, because there's no quick delivery of books.
Al-Khameri's response to the problem? “Well, there's no computer system here, which would allow patrons to search for their books themselves. Because I'm alone here, I can't respond to all of the requests at the same time; hence, they must wait and then they lose their tempers.”
When librarians classify books without a computerized system, many errors occur because everything is done the old way, which is writing by hand the book title, who borrowed it, etc., and then having to search through such handwritten record books, which is awkward and time-consuming.
Due to such an archaic system, one anonymous individual points out that, “If any book is lost, librarians usually should take responsibility and pay for it, but because there's no strict rule to control this, officials don't say a word and nothing is done about it.”
Books and quality
At both libraries, books are in extremely poor condition due to lack of funding to maintain them. Additionally, there aren't enough bookshelves for all of the books and the ones available are small; thus, books are disorganized and piled on top of each other.
The number of titles at the Yemen Research Center exceeds 51,000, of which 99 percent are indexed, while approximately 50,000 to 60,000 titles are on hand at Beit Al-Thaqafah. The types of books available at both libraries include those regarding literature, sociology (including politics, education and culture), medicine and the sciences.
Hamdan Dammaj, vice president at the Yemen Research Center, explains, “Our library's budget granted by the Finance Ministry is YR 180 million, of which YR 100 million goes for salaries, while the remaining YR 80 million is for purchasing and maintaining books. However, this year, we spent only YR 300,000 to buy books.”
He adds, “Of course, such low support reflects itself in the quality of the books and the center itself.”
At Beit Al-Thaqafah, Al-Khameri notes, “Books are purchased annually, spending between YR 7-8 million provided by the Finance Ministry. Besides purchasing them, some books are donated by researchers and writers. On the whole, the funds provided aren't enough. We've asked for an increased amount, but we receive no response from the responsible authorities.”
He adds, “Providing books for researchers and readers is the most important thing on our agenda, but unfortunately, no one seems to care. Books are offered at many exhibitions, but only relatively few are purchased.”
Many books, especially at Beit Al-Thaqafah, remain in storage, as Al-Khameri confirms, “Believe it or not, many books are in storage and have yet to see the light of day because there's simply not enough space to display them. We've requested officials construct another building or even add extra bookshelves, but we've received no response.”
He continues, “Only once was it decided to add an upper floor to our building, but unfortunately, we couldn't do so due to the library's foundations. Since then, no one has raised the subject again, nor offered any other suggestion or proposal.”
Dammaj notes that because his center is the authority for foreign researchers, it plans to provide books in English and other languages, but as of now, there are none. However, there's a large possibility that donors will support the library with both books and money.
According to Dammaj, “We're in touch with donors and other organizations regarding establishing an agreement with them for to benefit the library.”
Additionally, he says there are plans to extend the center's library to accommodate more patrons, as well as modernize it with a computer system and linking it with other web sites, the benefit of which would be that patrons could enter the web site and request any book they would want to read or order. “Surely, such technology at our library would be the first in Yemen,” he notes.
Researcher Iman Al-Hathri comments, “Things are sometimes difficult at the library when there's a crowd. Because I usually go to the library to do my research, such crowding doesn't allow me to concentrate on my reading. The main problem I encounter is that the place isn't big enough and there are no vacant chairs.”
Nearly everyone comes to the library to do research for his or her university studies. Rarely do students use the library to learn or gain more knowledge. Additionally, such students never return to the library once they graduate.
According to Al-Sharafi, Sana'a libraries are particularly crowded at certain times of the year. “Between January and March and then again from April to July is when students visit the library a lot because those months are before university exams and when students do their research. However, the rest of the year, the library is vacant.”
With no special section for children's books at either library, Al-Sharafi explains, “We had a section especially for children's books, but because no children ever visited the library and due to lack of space, we had to forfeit that section to shelve other books.”
Al-Khameri believes untrained staff is the main problem of Sana'a libraries, commenting, “Trained staff knowledgeable about both the library and their duties is very important and the most needed thing in our libraries because a perfect library needs perfect librarians.”
Visitors and numerous problems
Al-Khameri says Beit Al-Thaqafah has between 400 and 500 visitors daily, which is 12,000 per month and 144,000 annually. He notes that while every year witnesses an increase, 2004 had the highest attendance.
Additionally, he points out that Yemeni girls visit the library more than boys, with girls comprising the vast majority – 70 percent – of the 90 percent of library visitors who are students. So far in 2007, he says 1,915 books have been borrowed by those without library cards, while an indeterminate number have been borrowed by those with cards.
Qat and smoking aren't allowed in libraries, as Yemen Research Center librarian assistant Hashem Al-Dammag explains, “Only on one condition is a qat chewer allowed to enter the library. If he arrives with qat already in his mouth, that's fine, but if he sits, opens his bag of qat and starts chewing, he'll be asked to leave immediately.”
Due to lack of security measures and equipment, especially given that there's such overcrowding at the two libraries in Sana'a, many books are stolen, at which Al-Khameri declares, “Whoever is caught stealing will be sent to criminal investigation.”
Upon entering the library at Beit Al-Thaqafah, visitors will notice a special book security machine, which the British Embassy in Sana'a donated six months ago to protect the books of Alan Dorsey, an English collector of books about Yemen in English on practically every subject.
Many library patrons used to borrow books and then not return them. For this reason, before borrowing any book, visitors must put down a deposit. Also, in order to borrow a book, patrons must have a library card. The lowest deposit at Beit Al-Thaqafah is YR 1,500. If an individual returns the book in bad condition, he or she will pay for it.
This practice has been done at Beit Al-Thaqafah since 1997. “Because many people used to borrow books and not return them, we had to implement this policy to make people feel that they have something valuable that must be returned. Since 1997, approximately 1,500 books haven't been returned to the library. People borrowed them and never came back,” Al-Khameri points out.
At the Yemen Research Center, one difficulty is that there's no photocopier, which forces patrons to take the books outside of the library. According to researcher Abdullah, “Whenever I want to copy a book, I have to present my library card and pay the book deposit because there's no photocopier in the library, so I must go outside for that. I wish the library authorities would bring a photocopier for the library and make it easy for us because most patrons are in hurry.”
She adds, “Books with only one copy can't be taken out or borrowed so that they aren't damaged. In this case, we must summarize the entire book.”
Al-Sharafi expresses, “Only 20 percent of books have only one copy, while 80 percent have more than one and some have more than five copies. However, never is a book with only one copy permitted to be taken outside the library or borrowed because we don't want to risk it being damaged or not returned. Additionally, the way books are photocopied destroys them from time to time.”
Why Yemenis aren't interested in libraries
The main problem lies within the families themselves, which must teach their children to read from a tender age.
The nation's economic situation also plays a big role in not allowing citizens to get to libraries, as Yemenis can think only about how to provide for their families and themselves in order to live.
Dammaj proposes, “The Yemeni government, especially the Education Ministry, should fulfill its role in teaching schoolchildren about the importance of books and reading. Each and every Yemeni school should have a library so teachers can guide children to learn how to read and increase their knowledge, but unfortunately, we don't see this being done at all in Yemen.”
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