“Uncle Naji” bookstore
At a small corner located outside the doors of the Faculty of Literature of Damascus university, students can find in “Uncle Naji” bookstore many books that they are looking for despite the fact that these books are available on the internet for free.
The idea of opening a small bookstore near university had popped up in the mind of Uncle Naji several years ago and he implemented it 3 years ago with the aim of encouraging reading in general and spreading culture in particular among university students, who prefer to read printed books amid the rise in prices of such books.
“The idea is based on selling and lending books at very low prices, and this has encouraged subscribers to go on lending books from this small store,” Uncle Naji told Syria Times e-newspaper.
He added that most of books in his store are literary, but there are books on sciences and history.
“Students prefer new editions of books, so I try to get them despite the fact that our purchasing power is affected by the high price of books…I insist on getting all the titles requested by subscribers,” he clarified.
Rana Al-Olabi, a university student, told us: “ I subscribed to Uncle Naji’s bookstore two years ago, and the cost of subscription is 1,000 Syrian pounds per month. We can say that it is a free library as there are a lot of books and titles. If I did not find the book that I want, Uncle Naji tries to get it for me as soon as possible. It is a nice initiative to encourage reading.”
The same words were repeated by the University student Inas Al-Khatib, who visited the bookstore in 2022 for the first time. “ Since my first visit, I have decided to come to this bookstore every week to borrow the books that I want to read, especially novels and stories in Arabic and English.”
The number of subscribers in this bookstore increases day by day due to the acceptable cost of subscription and the store’s suitable location.
Reported by: Basma Qaddour