A young Lebanese woman turned a small grocery store into an ancient library and literary salon

Larissa Slaie - Beirut

The library "Halabi" name surprisingly prominent in the world of books. Perhaps the strangest thing is that this library was once a small grocery store.

Abdullah loved books and collected them all his life, and little by little the store filled with books, and moved books to occupy the corners of the house, and under the stairs as well.

With the help of his daughter, Lana, the store faded, the library came to light, and his daughter accomplished what was impossible. She realized the dream, and the Halabi Library became one of the most famous libraries in Beirut, for anyone who wanted to buy books or read them inside the library.

In 2013, the daughter of Lana, who holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Marketing, thought of a way to fulfill her father's dream, creating a Facebook page called the library that did not have a real presence, to display some of the books that might be useful to someone.

This page was able to attract a small number of followers at first, but then became a large exhibition of dozens of advertisements for books and cultural events.

The oldest library with a reading club
Lana al-Halabi recounts how she turned the idea of ​​a dream into a reality and a great success story.``Since my childhood I came to the idea of ​​selling newspapers, some old books and new publications in a small corner of the grocery store, and there was a huge demand to buy, so I decided to turn the shop into a library. ''

Through her relationships and the establishment of a Facebook page, she became connected with publishing houses, and successfully participated in several exhibitions, and encouraged the interest that I found to many to engage in the project of the library and develop its role.

She also succeeded in introducing storytelling activities, reading circles, and discussion sessions, in which he established a reading club that brings together members and stops bystanders who are attracted by the cultural celebration under a tree, some of whom join tea and listen to and participate in the discussion.

The children became a large share in the library of Halabi, on the shelves of many stories of their own. The Library also conducts weekly sessions to read different stories for children to promote reading culture and encourage children to expand their imagination.

A life of taste and meaning
Lana left her job as a customer affairs specialist in the Arab region to an international company. Her focus and effort was on renovating the library while retaining its identity and warmth.

"My previous job is no longer enjoyable," Lana says. "I developed my work until I reached a stage where I realized that my job was done inside the company. I do not regret losing my job, because working between books made my life taste and meaning. I talk to people about writers and novelists. From discussing any book or idea, unlike my previous work, there is no place for forgery. Here is a different lifestyle. "

In addition to all the Lebanese cities, she has been able to secure rare books and send them to people in Qatar, Spain and Saudi Arabia, which has made a profit and has turned the project into a reliable source of income.

The library is involved in expanding reading among people. It is not only an intermediary between the reader and the publisher or writer, but also helps the reader to find and display the right book.

"This library that we see today is a realization of my father's wish about 60 years ago. Today I am proud to have been able to realize this dream," she says. "I am delighted to see happiness in his eyes when readers and visitors enter. We believe the book is of great importance. They know the value of the book, and there will always be readers, writers and publishers. "

The time of the book will not turn its pages
Al-Halabi library may have originated from the hobby of a person and his passion for books.

As Lana fulfilled her father's dream of setting up his library, she also dreams of having a rare bookstore in every corner of Lebanon. It also seeks to establish a network between these libraries served by an electronic application that helps everyone to get to the nearest place to get the book they want on a cultural map radiating knowledge and knowledge.

Lana concludes by talking to Al Jazeera Net by saying, "I participated in the Lebanese revolution in my own way, and chose to read books especially for children to convey social, cultural, humanitarian and environmental messages lined, reading for the children of the revolution is very important to raise awareness and to spread the culture and the presence and interaction of parents, the revolution is also cultural in every sense of the word."