ASSABIL Friends of Public Libraries Association

Newsletter May 2016

ASSABIL is a non-governmental organization established in 1997 to promote reading,

in particular through the establishment, promotion and support of public libraries in

Lebanon that are free and open to all.

In March 2016, ASSABIL began the “Beirut Debate Clubs’ Collaboration 2016” project funded by Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures (ALF). This project was a continuation of ASSABIL’s effort to promote debate amongst young people in Lebanon. Through this project 27 youth from public high schools between the ages of 13 and 16 were introduced to the principles of debate at the Municipal Public Library in Bachoura with Mr. Joe Haddad. Students from Jamil Alrawas Public School, Joubran Twainy Public High School, Sobhi Mahmasani Public High School, and a group from the Municipal Public Library in Geitawi formed 6 teams. The competitors were prepared through follow up sessions with Ali Alzoobi, debate trainer, throughout the month of April. The competing teams debated motions regarding the environment and education policies at Monot Theater, on May 7th, 2016.

“Beirut Debate Clubs’ Collaboration 2016”

Public Libraries against Xenophobia 2016

In February 2016 ASSABIL began a project entitled, “Public libraries against

Xenophobia”, with a funding from the Anna Lindh Foundation

Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures (ALF). This

project was a targeted action that sought to ease tension and promote harmony

among Lebanese and Syrian children and to promote public libraries as spaces

of inclusion and integration. It included training for librarians and partners from

out network to develop methodologies to work with mixed groups of children.

Six creative workshops (photography, puppet theatre, wall painting, arts and

crafts, etc.) were implemented with mixed groups of Lebanese, Syrian and

Palestinian children while librarians implemented storytelling and animation

activities on books to promote tolerance and respect for other cultures. The

topic of dialogue and tolerance was addressed directly in all the activities, and

during the workshops, children of different backgrounds had a chance to work

together on a common project. The final event for the project showcased the

workshop outputs on 27 May 2016 at our Municipal Public Library in

Bachoura.

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ASSABIL launched a new

mobile library project in

August 2015. The “Mobile

Library Service for

Vulnerable Populations”

project, funded by the Office

for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs

(OCHA) managed Country

Based Pooled Fund (CBPF).

The Kotobus Mobile Library

serves public schools & non-

formal educational centers

with a fully equipped library,

staffed with trained &

experienced librarians &

activity facilitators to

implement reading

promotion and recreational

activities that are highly

complementary to the

services provided by those

institutions. It contributes the

Education sector objective of

improving the equipment of

public schools where in need.

ASSABIL’s Kotobus Mobile Library started in September visiting schools and non-formal education centers regularly. Through this project ASSABIL was able to refurnish an old mobile library and sent it to Al Jalil refugee camp in Baalbek at the beginning of March 2016. Between February and April 8 creative workshops were carried out in 7 different lo-cations involving over 90 youth.

Grant from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Children participated in creative workshops: African Drums, Choral, Photography, Puppet Show, Hand Crafts, Mobile Journalism, Story Telling, and Wall Painting

The final outcomes of these workshops were showcased on 22nd April in the Municipal Public Library in Bachoura.

January 2016

Since 2009, ASSABIL has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with

Welfare Association, an organization that provides development

and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians within Palestine as well

as members of the Palestinian communities in Lebanon. For the

past six years, ASSABIL has used its expertise and know-how in

order to develop the seven public libraries that are managed by the

Lebanon office of the Welfare Association. These libraries are

based in Palestinian refugee camps in Tripoli, Bourj El-Barajneh,

Sidon and Tyre and offer rare public and community spaces that

serve vulnerable groups and host activities that not generally

available in the camps.

In Jan 2016, this partnership was renewed and a new dimension added. The ASSABIL mobile library will undertake six

visits monthly to Palestinian refugee camps or Palestinian community gatherings, providing these populations access to

books, storytelling activities and awareness-raising activities.

A New Agreement between ASSABIL and the Welfare Association

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EU Multimedia Project

Youth composed a Zajal On The

Topic of The Environment

November 2015

Youth from Lebanese

towns gathered in Monot

Theatre to watch the vid-

eos they had produced in

the final event of the EU-

funded project

“Developing Multimedia

Activities in the Network

of Public Libraries in

Lebanon The project was

launched by ASSABIL in

partnership with the

Collectif de

bibliothécaires et

d’intervenants en action

culturelle (COBIAC) and

the Lebanese Ministry of

Culture in February of

2016. The project sought

to provide Lebanese

librarians with the

knowhow and tools to

develop multimedia

projects with young

people.

The project involved

more than 20 libraries

including two Beirut

Municipal Libraries

managed by ASSABIL in

Bachoura and Geitawi,

the ASSABIL Kotobus,

Centers of Reading and

Cultural Animation

(CLAC), libraries from

ASSABIL’s own network

and others.

The themes of the

multimedia output ranged

from the pastimes of

young people, sports,

puppet theatre, the

Lebanese lands cape and

archaeological heritage as

well as homage to the

French singer Dalida.

Sixteen videos were

produced in total.

Two training workshops led by

Cyril Blazy

Re-Opening of Monot Library

After being closed for two months due to internal renovations, the Beirut Municipal Library in Monot re-opened its doors to the public on the 17th of November, 2016, and resumed its regular activities.

Screening a Film Produced by

Young Participants

Youth composed a Zajal On The

Topic of The Environment

Two training workshops led by

Cyril Blzy

Screening a Film Produced by

Young Participants

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Activity in Sanayeh with Azadea

Salon du Livre

Meeting Author Marie Clarke

Storytelling, puppet theater and origami activities in Rene

Mouawad Public Garden in Sanayeh

October 2015

On the occasion of the 22nd edition of the Francophone Book Fair (Salon du Livre Francophone de Beyrouth),

ASSABIL was delighted to cooperate with the Canadian Embassy in Lebanon. On October 24, ASSABIL received

Canadian author Dany LaFerriere, member of the Académie Française, at the Municipal Public Library of

Geitawi where he gave a fascinating talk about his work while the graphic novelist Christophe Piron met with the sixth

grade class of the Zokak El-Blat Public School at the Bachoura library on October 28. In addition, students from the

Laure Mghaizel and Sobhi Mahmasani secondary high schools met with author Marie Clarke at the stand of Embassy

in the book fair.

October 2015

ASSABIL took part in the Green Hub

activity in the Rene Mouawad Public

Garden in Sanayeh, an event organized by

Azadea and Tamyras publishing house. The

Kotobus was stationed in the garden

throughout the day and the library

animators Sami Moussa and Ghiwa Allam

carried out a storytelling and puppet theatre

activity for children. In addition, Mayda

Makdessi, former ASSABIL Administrative

Committee member engaged children in

origami activities using recyclable material.

We are Online

Horsh Festival to resume in 2016

We are very pleased to

re-launch the official

website of ASSABIL in

English & Arabic. You

are now able to follow all

our latest news and be

updated of all upcoming

activities in the 3

municipal libraries of

Beirut and the ASSABIL

Resource and Training

Center. The new website

also allows you to sign up

for a library card and

search our library

catalogue online.

www.assabil.com

Also you can

follow us on our

Facebook page,

Instagram and

Snapchat

ASSABIL.ngo

In Summer 2015, ASSABIL was not able to

organize the fifth edition of the Horsh Festival for

a range of financial and administrative reasons.

For those of you who were disappointed with this

news, please note that the festival will be back this

summer, 17th & 18th September 2016.

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Horsh Beirut Festival 2014 ASSABIL Network

In 2014, ASSABIL began to integrate the promotion of gender equality within its strat-egy. This began with the production of gen-der-disaggregated statistics to allow the asso-ciation to reflect on the target groups it serves, adjusting its book acquisition policies and introducing new relevant activities. One of these activities was the production of a specialised toolkit on gender.

The toolkit includes a set of activities that revolve around books and other media and can be implemented in libraries. In April and May 2015, librarians from 12 libraries were trained on the use of the toolkit. Since then, these libraries have made activities on gender an integral part of the activities they offer children and young people.

In 2015, several NGO’s

and municipalities

approached ASSABIL in

order to benefit from

association’s expertise in

the field of library

management, whether to

create new libraries or

improve existing ones.

These included the

Mohamed Ali Khodr

Association for creativity

in Birqayel (Akkar) and

the Basmeh and

Zeitooneh association

who recently opened a

public library at their

center in the Shatila

camp.

ASSABIL also provided

training for young people

in the towns of Akkar Al-

Ateeqa and Kherbet Shar,

both in Akkar area. The

first workshop was

organized by the Rene

Moawad Foundation and

Mada Association while

the second was

commissioned by

Lebanon Community

Resilience Initiative in

partnership with Hadatha

Association. The

workshops covered topics

such as classification,

book discussions,

storytelling and how to

develop a rich and diverse

programme of activities in

the library.

ASSABIL offers a consultancy for new libraries

Hassan Alwan,

“With Borges” by Alberto

Manguel, and “Between

the two Castles” by Najib

Mahfouz.

Our Libraries also hosted

discussion session with

authors:

Houda Barakat “Laughter

Stone”

Sarah Nemeh “Demons

in New Carthage"

Michel Touma “Gregory

Haddad, a Lay Bishop

Rebel Bishop”

Our Public Libraries Activities

ASSABIL’s Book Clubs

discussed rich and various

list of books over the past

year: “Virgins of

Londonistan” by Hanan

Alsheikh, “Ebola 76” by

Amir Taj Elser, “Azazil”

by Yusuf Zeidan, “The

Beaver” by Mohammed

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Ivana Marchalian "I, the

undersigned, Mahmoud

Darwiche”

ELIAS KHOURY "Sons

of The ghetto- my Name

is Adam"

The Resource and Training Center

organizes regular training workshops

for librarians, educators, library

volunteers. If you are interested in

taking part in our workshops, please

contact us. 0166 46 47

Municipal Library in Bachoura hosts monthly discussion sessions with authors and writers

Monthly Films

Success stories for our libraries

Musical Evenings

Monthly film screenings

are held at our Public

Library at Bachoura in

collaboration with Nadi

Li Kol Alnas:

Beirut, Generation of

War by Jan Chamoun &

May Masri

Wadih Alsafi

Remembered, by Marcel

Jabbour

Yezidis of Iraq,

extermination number

73, by Nabila Ghossein

I Am The Blue, by

Mohammad Nour

Ahmed

Among the Wars, by

Yara Assi

Conversations In Times

of War, by Dalia

Fathallah

Congratulations for the

Liberation, by Dalida

Fathallah

The Three

disappearances of

Souad Housni, by

Rania Estfan

Every month, Municipal Library in Bachoura hosts the

Arabic music critic and historian Elias Sahhab. Evenings

are devoted to Arabic musicians and singers. This year’s

evening were dedicated to Fayza Ahmad, Mohamed

Abdel Wahab, Abdel Wahab Akoumi, Um Kalthoum,

Shadia &Farid Alattrach.

Music from around the world was also greeted at our

Libraries: Bela Bartok, B.B. King of the Blues, Hippies

and 3 J: Joplin, Hendrix and Morrison, and many others.

at which time he signed up for a

membership and borrowed 5 books.

During the same visit, the young child led

his father through the shelves of books

for adults where he told him to choose

something that interests him, as our

librarians had told him during his first

visit.

What could make us proud more than

seeing a young child encouraging his

father to choose a book from our books

collection.

A young boy -10 years old- began visiting

the library with his father after

participating in a class reception to

Bachoura Municipal Public Library with

his school. According to his father, the

child insisted on returning to the library,

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Discussion with director Dalida Fathallah at Bachoura Library

We aim to encourage

people to read, whenever

and wherever they can.

Ramzi -70 years old- likes

to stay up to date on

world news, but he

can’t afford to daily

purchase the newspaper

or visit the public library.

When the Bachoura

library began the

computer course for

adults, Ramzi decided to

enroll to learn how to

search for news on the

Internet. Now he stays

updated using the

Internet on his mobile

phone and helps his

friends to do the same.

Also libraries are spaces

to meet and weave social

relations in a country

suffering from an absence

of public spaces. That

what George -retired

senior– found in the three

libraries in Beirut. He has

formed a network of

friends from all the

libraries of Beirut. Each

time they meet in a

different library to discuss

the latest developments in

the country and the

books they read.

George frequently visits

the public library in

Monot and spends time

browsing newspapers,

magazines, checking out

books for him, his wife

and young grandson who

recently joined to the

library even before he

learned how to read and

write.

ASSABIL is very happy to welcome into its family, Marie

Daunay our new Executive Coordinator. And also Nadia

Younes, our new Project Manager.

On another note, ASSABIL is bidding farewell to Doris

Summer. Doris first joined ASSABIL in 2007 as a project

manager and later became the Executive Coordinator in

2014. We thank her for her 8 years of service, her

competent initiation and management of projects and her

commitment to the values of ASSABIL.

Also we thank Susanne Abou Ghaida, who joined

ASSABIL in November 2015, as Executive Coordinator

and left us in December to do her PhD in Children’s

Literature at Glasgow University. We wish Susanne all the

success in her educational and professional journey.

Books loaning service is available in the

3 libraries in Bachoura, Monot,

Geitawi, and also through our Mobile

Library “KOTOBUS”

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Staff News

Nadia Younes, Programs Manager Marie Daunay, Executive Coordinator

Nadia Younes, a community

organizer, has an MA in Middle

Eastern studies from the AUB.

In 2013, she helped establish the

Al Naqab Center for Youth

Activities in the Bourj El-

Barajneh camp. ASSABIL ap-

pointed her the Project Manager

in September 2015.

Marie Daunay is a civil society activist who has been working in Lebanon as an NGO director for the last 10 years. Proficient in administrative, financial, human resources and project management, she joined Assabil as executive coordinator in March 2016. “I am proud and happy to have been appointed at this position, because I believe ASSABIL promotes values that highly contribute to a richer and more peaceful society”, she said.

New Administrative committee

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

September 2015

The new Administrative Committee of ASSABIL was voted in. The seven members

of the new committee are:

Ziad Abou Alwan (President)

Professor of architecture at the Lebanese University, and a landscape Architect. Also

an active member of ASSABIL since 2000; involved in the design of the Bachoura &

Geitawi Municipal Public Libraries.

Maud Stephan (Vice President)

Professor of Library & Information Sciences and former head of the department at the Lebanese University, founding member of ASSABIL, former advisor to the Min-ister of Culture on Library-related issues. Cathy Khattar (Treasurer)

Published Children’s Author, former Finance Officer at ASSABIL & current Grants

Manager at the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture.

Elsa Zakhia (Secretary)

Librarian at the Revival Project of the Lebanese National Library, co-founder of

Mersal, an online children’s literature magazine.

Antoine Boulad (Member)

Published Poet, founding member and former President of ASSABIL, co-founder of

Kitabat Association.

Rana Samara Jubayli (Member)

Architect & a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architecture & Design at AUB,

and at the School of Architecture and Interior Design at LAU, former consultant on

sustainable development at the UN.

Isabelle Peillen (Member)

Public libraries play an important role in the development of individuals and

societies. Free and unlimited access to information is an essential prerequisite for the

development of a well-informed citizenry and democratic society. Public libraries are

also important public spaces: places where everyone is welcome and where people

from different socioeconomic, religious, and political backgrounds can meet one

another and exchange ideas.

ASSABIL, Friends of Public Libraries Association

Mohammad el-Hout St., Naoura Bldg

Ras el Nabeh, Beirut- Lebanon

Tel: (+961)-1-664647 Fax: (+961)-1-652998

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