Some places that a book lover could head to in Qatar

Not all hobbies and past time activities are as addictive and satisfying as reading. All bookworms will vouch for that.

However, if you’ve just moved to Qatar and happen to be a book lover, then here are some places that we’ve come up with where you could go for a book or two.

Public Libraries-

The Georgetown Library is a place where you could get access to over 70,000 books and more. The residents could borrow two or six books after paying a refundable of about 200QR or 600QR. The books can be borrowed for a period of two weeks.

Located in the ground floor of the Georgetown University building in the Education City, the library’s official website could help you with opening hours and etc.

#-The Qatar National Library, although isn’t opened to the public yet, the library has a well-functioning website that provides access to online books for all the registered users. In order to become a member of the library, you will need a valid Qatari id or residence permit.

When the library opens, it will contain a variety of books and e-books in both English and Arabic, covering different genres including fiction and non-fiction.

#- Those in to the creative field, can make use of the VCUQ library, which has around 30,000 books and more on art, design, art history etc. that you could borrow for two weeks after paying a refundable deposit of QR300.

Children’s Libraries-

#- Maktaba children’s library opened up this year. The library which is located near the Doha Exhibition Center contains books in English, Arabic, Spanish and French. The library is intended for children, tweens and teenagers.

The bright, colourful Maktab library has special areas dedicated to arts and crafts, tutoring sessions etc.

#- You can also head over to the Doha Mums children’s library. The library which opened in 2012, is only for members where kids aged ten and below can browse and borrow from around 2,300 titles. The annual fee is QR100 per family.

Book shops-

Qatar also has some book shops where you would come across the kind of book that you want. Some bookshops that contain English and Arabic books as well are- Jarir bookstore, Virgin Megastores, WH Smith, Tribe bookshop (Education City) etc.

You would also find most super markets selling some range of books.

E-books-

You could also resort to ebooks. Some good e-readers and apps are, Kindle by Amazon, Nook (Barnes and Noble), KoboBooks etc.

Do you know of any other options? Share with us in the comments below.

(Cover pic courtesy: SrHarris)