The fact that reading is the least favored hobby for children in Saudi Arabia and not a major activity in their daily lives motivated a mother to start a book store to lure young minds to read.
Maali Khashoggi, the general director and co-owner of Little Book, believes that educating children opens their minds and positively contributes to society. Khashoggi believes that young mothers nowadays are growingly more aware of this fact and are trying to change it by promoting reading. The first step toward change involves them reading themselves.
Maali Khashoggi, a mother of two, is hoping to raise a generation of good readers starting with her own children. The initial idea of starting a bookstore came to Khashoggi when she was studying in the United States where she had her first baby.
She used to take her child to read or even just wander with her in children’s bookstores and libraries just to let him get used to the culture of reading. It was easy, because she found a children’s bookstore everywhere in the US. She also noted that children there were often gifted books rather than toys.
“When I came here, everything had changed. The culture of reading books was not evident. It was the difference in the attitude toward reading that made me start this project here,” she said.
The questions that came to her included: Why don’t we have bookstores for children in the Kingdom, although they are available in other Arab countries? Why don’t our children have the opportunity to read books? Why are books so difficult to get hold of, especially taking into consideration that it is difficult to order books over the Internet or wait to go abroad to buy them?
After she continued her MA degree in business administration at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, the questions resurfaced and with it the idea of a children’s bookstore. She presented the idea to her family; six females from her family got together and began their venture in January 2008.
Twofold purpose
There were many detractors; some even said it would not generate revenue. But that did not deter Khashoggi, as the purpose behind the bookstore was twofold: community service and business.
Khashoggi went to publishing houses in the US and the UK to set up a free flow of books. Officials were cautious and hesitant to deal with her since she was a woman venturing into new territory. “They, however, helped me a lot and were willing to give me a push to start. The delay in books coming in was from the customs here. Books take a long time to be cleared,” she said.
The bookstore caters for children up to the age of 12. Khashoggi selects bestselling and award-winning books. The books she sells are placed in several categories: “Learning and Fun” (books that teach children through fun activities), “Baby and Preschoolers” (books for those below four), nonfiction books, novels, and early and middle readers for children above six.
Most of the books are in English, but Khashoggi said books in French would soon be available. There is also an Arabic section; Khashoggi endeavors to try stocking top quality Arabic books. In order to make books exciting, Khashoggi arranges for authors of children’s books to visit the store to sign books and provide children with information of how to write stories.
“As I expected, our customers are mostly non-Saudis; only a certain class of Saudis comes. The biggest reward for me is when people thank me for establishing the bookstore saying that there’s a need for these kind of bookstores,” she said.
“In the long run, I hope the stereotype of us not being readers will change,” she said, adding that people are more aware about reading for children.
Little Book is now cooperating with Al-Zumar Group, a set of young mothers, in arranging campaigns to promote reading and in forming a committee to encourage reading. “We complement each other. We sell books and they raise awareness.”
The bookstore also holds regular story-time sessions in which volunteer teachers, teenagers and mothers read to children under an artificial tree. The store is so popular that some schools bring children on school trips to it and buy books for their personal libraries.
Khashoggi said interest is growing, as some children have began visiting the store with their friends.
Little Book is not the only children’s bookstore in Jeddah. My Library, which was the first library for children up to 18, was started by a group of young mothers in 2006. The library hosts Arabic calligraphy classes, book signing sessions with authors and classes teaching mothers how to select books for their children.
The library is a nonprofit organization and generated income is put back into the library to meet maintenance costs and pay salaries. “Our concept is about borrowing books to offer them the most possible benefit from different kinds of books,” said Sondos Zeidan, one of the library’s co-owners.
