Children’s Centre and Library (Nablus, 2015)

This community center, located next to the Nablus Public Library, emphasizes cultural and educational pursuits. Activities for children focus on reading, storytelling, and arts and crafts, including virtual talks with authors who discuss their own literature as well as writings by the children. The center has recently instituted a weekly program called My Mother Is Reading for Me for children ages 3 to 5 (i.e. too young for kindergarten), which allows women and their children to come together and get familiar with the library.

Having a children’s librarian was a priority from the establishment of the center, and the library serves as an entry point for users as a whole. There remains only one librarian, but other center workers are trained to help her. The collection consists of approximately 4000 books for an audience of ages 6 to 16, all non-circulating in order to keep the books in good condition. A small percentage is donations. Fairy tales and encyclopedias are among the most popular topics. While the collection has an appealing variety, about 90% is translations from other cultures. During LAP’s 2015 visit, staff told us that since the second intifada, no new children’s books have been easily accessible, other than translations.