CAIRO: Neamat, a 10-year-old student from Turah Suburb in Helwan, regularly visits the mobile library that passes by her street to borrow books to read. "I love the library here because I find the stories I want, said Nemaat. In a bustling city like Cairo, famous for its cafés and restaurants, people on the streets would stop for a drink or a sandwich, but few, like Neamat, would visit any of the eight mobile libraries roaming Cairo and its suburbs. Serving around 60 locations in Greater Cairo governorates, mobile libraries allow visitors to read and borrow books for free and return them within 15 days when the library returns to the same location. Six libraries are affiliated with the National Library of Egypt while the other two are owned by Integral Care Society. They contain all kinds of books covering all genres including science, medicine, philosophy, religion, and literature. One library is entirely dedicated to children. "The main goal of these libraries is to bring culture to people's doorsteps and restore some of the trust between the citizens and the government by making them feel that they are looked after, as well as allowing cultural discussions between visitors, Abdel Nasser Hassan, director of National Library of Egypt, told Daily News Egypt. Although the first library was introduced in 1984 with a capacity of 12,000 books followed by another in the following year and another for children in 1990, the idea received a great boost when the "Reading for All initiative came to life. With the help and subsidization of several organizations the National Library bought another three new libraries in 2007 and 2008. "We now have people so connected to the libraries that when it doesn't show up because of a technical problem, they call and ask for it, Hassan said. Each library serve 10 designated spots each month including small villages in Qaliubiya governorate, Imbaba, El-Qanater El-Khairiya, Helwan, New Cairo, Sixth of October City as well as universities and school complexes; they operate from 9 am until 4 pm. Integrated Care Society's two libraries, on the other hand, move between schools during winter and housing complexes during summer. They also have more than 250 mobile libraries in the form of a box full of books that roam around public places. According to Mohsen Salah, head of mobile libraries department at the National Library of Egypt, the libraries that see the most borrowing activity are the ones in Ain Shams University and Matariya neighborhood. "Generally, whenever there are students or employees, there is a high borrowing activity. However, it is children who are our best customers and that's why we always try to add new books that they prefer like action, horror and stories' series, Salah said. Most borrowed book genres are religion, literature and computer. Books are changed every six months and new books are added annually either from the supply department or according to visitors' preferences. "Books that aren't being borrowed are replaced by other ones; we also monitor areas where there is less activity and change positions in order to serve other areas that are more in need, Salah said. Tough challenges The employees operating the libraries, however, cited bureaucracy as the main obstacle standing in the way of the development of mobile libraries. "Although this is a public service for free, the procedures needed to start borrowing books may discourage some to use mobile libraries, said Sayed Abdel Gawad, a librarian at one of the libraries. First-time readers, except government employees, must get the signature of a guarantor before they can start borrowing; the guarantor would be responsible for the loss or damage to borrowed books. Each library has its own application that allows borrowing books from it only. Other problems vary from finding a place to park the vehicle or even getting it to work. "Shop owners always refuse to let us to park in front of [their shops]; we can't find empty spots easily in congested areas so we double park and then the traffic police force us to leave, Abdel Gawad said. "The cars break down a lot...[sometimes] for more than 10 days, breaking the tie between the readers and the library, because the maintenance technicians aren't qualified and the cars are old and the new cars aren't any better, he added. Hassan said some have no respect for books and at times books are returned in bad shape; also the emergence of new technologies like the internet has taken a large sector of readers away from libraries. Wrong locations? Shabaan Khalifa, professor of libraries and information at the faculty of arts, Cairo University, said that the mobile libraries only serve as decor and they fail to meet their main purposes. "We need to understand its philosophy first; mobile libraries are supposed to serve populations in remote areas away from urban communities, not inside mega cities like Cairo, Khalifa told Daily News Egypt. Khalifa said that for every 6,000 citizens there must be a public library, but in Egypt we have a total of 2,600 libraries serving 80 million people. "Priority must be given to establishing public libraries for Cairo residents, he said. However, Hassan said that the National Library of Egypt is only assigned to serve Greater Cairo while each governorate has its own cultural center affiliated with the Cultural Centers Authority. Employees, according to Abdel Gawad, refuse to work in these remote areas; especially with the absence of new appointments. According to Khalifa, libraries in Egypt have two main problems: they report to different government authorities, instead of one, and they work only in the morning when people are at work and children are at school. "There must be a higher council for libraries that takes care of libraries and constantly updates their books; people want to read but they only want the appropriate conditions from convenient working hours to updated books, Khalifa said. The National Library is now planning to set up café libraries offering the most important publications in cafés that are known for serving intellectuals regularly.
