Availability of English books in Qatar

There's a small bookstore in the 4th floor in City Center. It's not much but hopefully you can find what you're looking for.

You can check http://www.qatarusedbooks.wordpress.com. They advertise your used books on the website, or you can simply donate it. They just opened a facebook page http://www.facebook.com/UsedBookStoreQatar in which there going to be a community of people interested in book swapping, opening a book club etc.

sucks..sucks..sucks..

dont just rely on jarir my friends..you can also find very good books in Virgin Stores, villagio and landmark..there are lots of english books out der..i bought my harry potter and the deathly hallows last year in that store..and the price in virgin is good enough than those in jarir..a lot to choose from in there..

then, contact me....

Yeah as Moneera says one has now opened up in the new section/extension of Landmark.......It's a lot smaller than the one in Villagio but htere it stands none the less....

The other is in the Land Mark =)

Two Virgin Stores??? u sure??

Then besides the One in Villagio, where is the other one??

Regards!!

Guys, there are TWO Virgin bookstores here now as well as Jarir, and anyone can become a member of the Georgetown library at Education City. I know several people in Qatar who recommend Qatar National Library (I haven't been there but eveyrone i've spoken to about it likes it)....

There are public libraries here.... but they are few and not as well maintained as the ones in the west....

the national library is better known by it's arabic name "dar alkutub" .... i am not good with directions but it is off the corniche but u need to drive off what was the abo abood bridge and head neear the shops....i said i was bad with directions :)

also their is a Alkhansa womens library ...they have a nice building on the cinemas road....sorry men....only for women...

i live in al-Wakra...a city south of the capital....we also have alwakra public library...

these are the ones i know of.... i think they are more though...

also there many bookswaps happening

Actually, there are Jarir BookStore and Abu Kharbal Bookshop, Virgin at Villagio, Family bookshop, and we have Qatar University Library as well as George Town University. eeeeeemm may be there is a library in Qatar Foundation "Acadimic Bridge", but regarding the universities, I'm not sure if they do have borrowing system for non students.

Now, I'm really curious

http://www.isozaki.co.jp/buildings/

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--Rosa sat so Martin could walk, so Obama could run, so our children can fly

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=94713&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

The Gulf Times link said its going to be ready in 08?

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--Rosa sat so Martin could walk, so Obama could run, so our children can fly

My amazon account is about to get busy!

I'm sorry we haven't been there but we heard about that it exist. we now have the Virgin bookstore here at Villaggio and they have good selection of books and we also have Jarir Bookstore otherwise, my hubby buy his books through Amazon. Have a nice day!

I realise that this is quite an old thread but I was wondering whether there is a website for Qatar National Library? I want to start my research as soon as I arrive in the country and would like to inquire about manuscript sources, membership, archives - that sort of thing

I had a look on google, and came to the National Culture website and though it has information on the library structure, no contacts or info on the public access catalgoue etc etc.

Anyone know how I might start getting in touch with people, or know any of the librarians who I could get in touch with?

I'm not a member of EC, and would like to know if you wouldn't mind recommending the website where you download books.   I'm working on my thesis and need more reference material.  

Hi knoxcollege,

where do you download books from for free? I thought you had to pay? Please give me the site. Thankks.

You're very welcome, Knox, and happy reading :)_______________________________________________________

Love is the answer...

all books are downloadable. If they cannot get an electronic copy of a book, they'd make an electronic copy by scanning the book.

Regarding printing the book, I use the services of my office printer. :)

And Diamondgirl, Thank you for the info I have noted your point.

I think I saw people saying, like you have, that "So now I download books from the internet. it is easier and and doesnt cost a dime"

How does that work? I mean .. do you actually print the entire book off the internet?

Forgive my ignorance, here, but I've no idea how that works and I remember someone PMing me to ask if I'd download the latest Harry Potter for him/her and read it to see if anything was left out!?*&%?

Armchair critic, oh, I mean Knox...why don't you join Georgetown Uni library now that you've read here that it's open to the public? Oh no, I forgot, that would give you one less thing to criticise Qatar for. Whoops.

Reality check, most campus libraries in the world are for the student body and faculty. However, some do offer services to the general public. It varies.

_______________________________________________________

Love is the answer...

Do Qatar book shops sell romance novels?

It's really great to hear that you can buy good books!!:) wow that's great. Hope it's not too pricey.

I was just about to say that the Virgin megastore at Villagio has an awesome selection of books, and also the gift shop in the Sheraton, but they might be a bit pricey.

but no library is open to general public. That is really sad for a country that wants to be a hub of education. I wanted to get some books from a library in education city and they said you have to be a student or faculty at the EC to borrow.

So now I download books from the internet. it is easier and and doesnt cost a dime.

Can anyone get membership at the Georgetown? Where is it located? I'll be moving into qatar shortly and I really can't do without books!:)

Well, sometimes you'll find a newer book at Carrefour. However, their prices are purchase-prohibitive. They had that Bernard Lewis book "The Middle East", which I wanted to read. I picked it up to learn that their price tag said 140 riyal, or something. You could order from the States via Amazon, pay the shipping, and still have dinner money left. So, unfortunately, they're a little proud of their stock IMHO. You just have to watch prices here, otherwise you can really get quite a few items. Otherwise there's always amazon.com, or amazon.co.uk.

Haven't seen any libraries here, US and Canada is totally different coz they have a lot of libraries and bookstores.

Well the only bookstore I know here are Jarir and Virgin in Villagio.

When JK Rowling released her last Harry Potter (June or July this year) book I was really worried because I'm thinking where can I buy one, thank God Jarir have it..

:)

Carrefour books are not really good.

我听见 我忘记; 我看见 我记住; 我做 我了解。

You can't understand until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes.

No, the Qatar National Library isn't currently by the main post office. Reason being it's under construction, and from what I understand they're experiencing delays. I believe they're having the same issues as the other ubiquitous construction projects here--running out of cement, permits, etc.

Mr Niceguy's directions are good-- check out a map and you'll see what he's talking about.

Here is an alternative: how about the Education City libraries? Georgetown, I know, offers public membership. They have a nice collection, guys. I just read John Grisham's newest courtesy of them.

There's 38,000 books, and they are buying at a furious pace. Their most-used vendor, for instance, they receive anywhere from 3-400 books a week. This is very large-scale acquisitions...

You pay a 50 riyal deposit and can check out 6 items at a time, for 2 weeks tops. No audio/visual stuff, or course reserves. No ILL services available. They buy magazines that people want to read. You may sit and read. http://library.georgetown.edu/qatar/

I don't know about the other schools... well, I do kind of. Cornell doesn't offer public membership. But TAMU-Q, Carnegie Mellon, and VCU-Q... I don't know about their public borrowing policies. You'd have to ask. TAMU-Q has some fiction stuff. VCU-Q and Carnegie Mellon don't really so much. Your best bet is Georgetown.

can u tell me the location please..

what we do does not define us, what defines us is what we do after we fall...

How do you get membership of the qatar national library? Do they allow females?

You can check at the Qatar National Library. They have some collection of books over there.

Did this thread come to nothing? Does it exist or not?

"When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer...Superstition ain't the way, no no no..."

Stevie Wonder.

Did this thread come to nothing? Does it exist or not?

"When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer...Superstition ain't the way, no no no..."

Stevie Wonder.

PS apologies to Square Peg, but I wrote that last bit too quickly and didn't realise how much I was duplicating him/her.

See Gulf Times page 3, today Thursday 29 June. Basically, the story says there's a fine library here, but Qataris aren't interested, and westerners can't get past the bureaucracy.

Sorry, I don't know how to create hyperlinks here but you can get it on the web at http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=94713&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

The library itself is just off Ras Abu Aboud on the R/A with Jabr Bin Mohammed Street. ie, the R/a after Travel Agents R/A (Ric's Country Kitchen and Sana), heading towards Grand Hamad.

Maybe I'll check it out and report back.

Isn't it along the Corniche somewhere? Maybe sort of in the Post Office region....?

Can somebody give me the details about Qatar National Library.

regards

paul

Article in today's Gulf Times: "300,000 books go begging for readers".

Apparently the Qatar National Library, which contains 50,000 books written in English and is free to anyone who can get past the paperwork and joining formalities, has a declining membership. Could this be that no-one knows it is there? I've done my homework on Doha and I haven't come across a public library, and it has not been mentioned on this forum. Does anyone know where it is located?

"One bookshop" is in no way an unfair assessment. The supermarkets may have a few books on their shelves but that doesn't make them bookshops and anyway are they books you would want to buy? Look at the bestseller list on Amazon. How many of these books can you find in the supermarkets? Come to that, how many can you find in Jarir?

"one book store" is slightly unfair. You'll find a selection of popular cheap paperbacks at Carrefour, Lulu Hypermarket and some of the self-styled "bookshops". There's a small reading library at Garvey's, but most of the English readers I know stock up at LHR departures and then swop amongst themselves. Doha Players had most of the old British Council selection, but of course, that was destroyed by the bomb.

Hi there,

Loki is right.. no major book stores here except for a saudi-owned franchise called Jarir. You might find a few of the latest paperbooks but its a rather dismal selection if you are a book lover and are used to stacked shelves that you see at Chapters, Borders or Barnes & Noble.

Best bet is Amazon and picking up books from Dubai.

Btw - I am a member of a book club and there are several more. If you are interested in joining, shoot me an email on [email protected].

And if you read anything other than fiction your choice will be fairly limited...

No public library, it has yet to get off the ground, and just the one bookshop. If you're a book-lover you'll be disappointed. The paperbacks seem to be reasonably priced but I thought the prices of some of the hardbacks were rather inflated. There's always Amazon.