June 2016 Newsletter, Jun 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.
ASSABIL
Friends of Public Libraries Association
Newsletter May 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.
“Beirut Debate Clubs’ Collaboration 2016”
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.
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ASSABIL
Grant from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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).
complementary to the
The final outcomes of these workshops were
showcased on 22nd April in the Municipal Public
services provided by those
institutions. It contributes the Library in Bachoura.
Education sector objective of
improving the equipment of
public schools where in need.
ASSABIL’s Kotobus Mobile
Library started in September
visiting schools and nonformal education centers
The Kotobus Mobile Library regularly. Through this
project ASSABIL was able to
serves public schools & nonrefurnish an old mobile
formal educational centers
library and sent it to Al Jalil
with a fully equipped library, refugee camp in Baalbek at
staffed with trained &
the beginning of March 2016.
experienced librarians &
Between February and April
activity facilitators to
8 creative workshops were
carried out in 7 different loimplement reading
cations involving over 90
promotion and recreational
youth.
activities that are highly
Children participated in creative workshops: African Drums, Choral, Photography, Puppet Show, Hand
Crafts, Mobile Journalism, Story Telling, and Wall Painting
A New Agreement between ASSABIL and the Welfare Association
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.
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ASSABIL
EU Multimedia Project
November 2015
Youth from Lebanese
towns gathered in Monot
Theatre to watch the videos they had produced in
the final event of the EUfunded 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.
Youth composed a Zajal On The
Topic of The Environment
Two training workshops led by
Two
Cyriltraining
Blazy workshops led by
Cyril Blzy
Screening a Film Produced by
Screening
a Film Produced by
Young Participants
Young Participants
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.
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ASSABI L
Salon du Livre
Meeting Author Marie Clarke
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.
Activity in Sanayeh with Azadea
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.
Storytelling, puppet theater and origami activities in Rene
Mouawad Public Garden in Sanayeh
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ASSABIL
We are Online
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
Horsh Festival to resume in 2016
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.
ASSABIL Network
In 2014, ASSABIL began to integrate the
promotion of gender equality within its strategy. This began with the production of gender-disaggregated statistics to allow the association 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.
Horsh Beirut Festival 2014
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.
Also you can
follow us on our
Facebook page,
Instagram and
Snapchat
ASSABIL.ngo
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ASSABIL
ASSABIL offers a consultancy for new libraries
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
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 AlAteeqa 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.
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
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”
Municipal Library in Bachoura hosts monthly discussion sessions with authors and writers
Ivana Marchalian "I, the
undersigned, Mahmoud
Darwiche”
ELIAS KHOURY "Sons
of The ghetto- my Name
is Adam"
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ASSABIL
Monthly Films
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
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
I Am The Blue, by
Discussion with director Dalida Fathallah at Bachoura Library
Musical Evenings
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.
Success stories for our libraries
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,
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.
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ASSABIL
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
Books loaning service is available in the enroll to learn how to
search for news on the
3 libraries in Bachoura, Monot,
Geitawi, and also through our Mobile
Internet. Now he stays
Library “KOTOBUS”
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.
Staff News
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.
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.
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 ElBarajneh camp. ASSABIL appointed her the Project Manager
in September 2015.
Nadia Younes, Programs Manager
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New Administrative committee
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 Minister 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)
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
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
ASSABIL