After nearly four years of planning and preparation, a new children’s library in West Bay has been launched by several local residents who are working to foster the love of reading among youth in Qatar.
Maktaba is housed in a colorful two-story villa off Onaiza Street, near the Doha Exhibition Center, and has books written in English, Arabic, French and Spanish for younger children, tweens and teenagers.
In addition to physical books, the library provides access to an array of online books and resources offered by the Qatar National Library at various computer booths.
Founder Sarah Champa Al Dafa told Doha Newsthat the need for such a facility became apparent to her not long after she moved to the country.
“When I got to Qatar eight years ago, I realized that there were no libraries and very few bookstores and very limited access to books,” she said, adding: “When you’re confronted with a total dearth of books, you start to wonder (if) there are no books because people just aren’t interested. It became clear from the get go, however, that it wasn’t that people didn’t want to read. They told us that they were bringing back suitcases full of books from Dubai and London … (because they) have nowhere to get books here.”
Original article by Chantelle D’Mello
Continue reading at Doha News:
New Doha children’s library opens to foster love of literature in kids
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