Book kiosks Regain popularity at Damascus Sidewalk

Secondhand book market underAl Ra’es  Bridge is still a destination for many writers, intellectuals, book lovers and university students; as it has formed a beautiful memory for everyone who passes by. It constitutes a strong relationship between book sellers and low income customers due to the used books cheap prices.

For more than twenty years, Uncle Abu Muayyad Mahmoud Hasan has worked in used book, selling in a street in Damascus, but now he works in the “sidewalk library” under theBridge, as his love and passion for reading, made him collect rare books to offer to his customers at moderate prices.It is worth noting that uncle Abu Muayyad owns books that are 100 years old.

About  used books clients, Uncle Abu Moayad said: “Most of them are university students, in addition to writers, intellectuals and those passing by. However, today’s customers are very few due to the availability of electronic books and the changing reading tastes of people.

In his turn, Mr. Hassan Hab AL-Ruman  “Abu Osama”, a bookseller, says: “I have been selling well-known books since fourth grade, for thirty years I have been placing my books on this sidewalk. I started with religious books, but due to the lack of demand for them, I began to present other books according to changing tastes, like books on human development, psychology and philosophy.

Adham Ajamiah, a university student and one of the booksellers, considers Syrians brilliant readers. He stressed that before there was a great demand for books, nevertheless currently book markets are slowly regaining activity.According to Ajamiah the most acclaimed books are cultural and literary books, whereas history books get little attention.

One of the customers, Youssef Deeb, who is an engineering student at Homs University, said “Whenever I come to Damascus,I visit this market, as I only find my request in this place, and it makes me feel good to  come here.

Archeology master student, comes to this book market to find references related to his study field. Hesaid “I love reading modern novels and myths. It  still maintains acceptable prices under these tough circumstances .

So those book Kiosks provide readers with rare books that are not available in traditional libraries at an affordable price.We must work to transform them into popular outdoors markets for books.

Lama razouk