Libraries

Afghanistan had a network of public libraries in major cities until the early 1990s. While efforts are now being made to restore infrastructure and collections across the country, quality remains patchy and access very limited.

Although earlier rulers are believed to have maintained collections of manuscripts, the first ‘royal library’ was established in 1901 by Amir Habibullah Khan, who in 1919 housed his collection in the Bagh-e-Bala Pavilion. In 1924 this library, together with the king's small ‘museum’ collection, were re-located to Koti Bagcha, a pavilion within the Arg-e-Kabul, Kabul, where they were formally inaugurated as the National Museum. In 1931, both the museum and its library were again re-located to a building in Darulaman, which was originally built as a municipal office. The museum has remained in this building ever since.

An Afghanistan Library Association was set up in 1971, to promote literacy and the development of a national library system and a school of library science, as well as to protect the interests of Afghan librarians. The Association published (irregularly) the Afghan National Bibliography.

In 1973, as awareness grew of the need for specialist attention for certain historic material that had until then been stored in the Kabul Public Library, the National Archives was established as a specialised institution responsible for the collection and preservation of historic documents and manuscripts.

Nonetheless, with the exception of Kabul, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif (Balkh) and a few eastern provinces, library provision in Afghanistan remains poor, with very few suitable books available to the public and donations hindered by the poor security situation.

University libraries also suffered badly during the 1990s, but whilst those in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif have since received donations of modern text books in English and in local languages, universities in other less secure regions have yet to rebuild their collections.

Since 2001 the Délégation archéologique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA) Library, the Afghan Institute of Archaeology Library and the Academy of Sciences Library have reopened and two new research libraries have been established.

One of the biggest problems facing the Afghan library sector is the serious shortage of teaching and research material in Pashtu. This problem predates the civil conflicts of the 1990s - while strong in literature, Pashtu has always been less strong in technical materials, and although efforts are now being made to redress the situation, the Ministry of Information and Culture reports that for every eight new books in Dari only two new books can be acquired in Pashtu.

Another recurring problem is that of inappropriate donations, which are often made without consultation with local librarians, and result in piles of books lying unused on library shelves or stacked up in library storerooms and corridors.

As in many developing countries, the priority for most Afghan librarians at this point in time is simply to be able to organise and manage books and documents efficiently and serve their clientele with a minimum of materials and technology.

In the absence of any formal librarianship training programmes, this has been the core aim of the short training courses in librarianship offered in recent years through the auspices of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) Library and the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University (ACKU).

In addition to its Lending and Reference Libraries, Kabul Public Library also incorporates a Children’s Section, an Afghanistan Section, a Literature Section and a Periodicals Section. The dedicated Afghanistan Section holds an important collection of over 500 books on Afghan culture and history, while the Literature Section stocks a reasonable collection of publications on Pashtu and Dari literature. The Periodicals Section holds a valuable collection of old newspapers, the oldest of which date back 140 years.

The Academy of Sciences Library dates back to the establishment of the Academy of Sciences in 1935, although the majority of its collection dates from the Soviet period (1979-1989). It functions to serve the needs of the Academy's three research divisions - Humanities, Natural Sciences and Islamic Studies.

The Academy of Sciences Library claims to have the largest collection of Dari and Pashtu publications on Afghanistan covering the period from 1979-1989, comprising over 50,000 books and journal titles. A reading room is available, although foreign researchers are first required to obtain permission from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There is as yet no complete catalogue of the materials.

One of the most important centres of documentary research on the archaeology and history of Central Asia, DAFA Library covers Afghanistan, northern India, Iran, the Middle East and Central Asia. At its core is the original DAFA collection of over 10,000 books and 3,000 periodicals, supplemented by photographs, maps, plans and reports.

Over the years, much of the library material in Afghanistan has deteriorated as a result of neglect, poor handling and over-use. In addition, many publications have been damaged or defaced by religious zealots. Since 2001, the repair of damaged items has been a priority for Afghan libraries, although the absence of specialist book and document conservation centres poses a problem for Afghan library staff, who have had to resort to primitive methods of conservation. There is an urgent need for practical training in the preservation of library materials through low-cost techniques that can be undertaken by the staff themselves, where appropriate.

As in many developing countries, the priority for most Afghan librarians is to be able to organise and manage books and documents efficiently and serve users with a minimum of materials and technology. This has been the core aim of the short training courses offered in recent years through the auspices of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) Library and the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University (ACKU).

In 2008 UNESCO sponsored AREU and ACKU to carry out a three-month training programme for university librarians, followed by a two-month training programme for librarians from the Ministry of Information and Culture, and finally by a third stage involving a survey of all provincial libraries and their needs. The Asia Foundation then gave funding for the training of provincial library staff in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad, both on-site and at AREU. Since that time AREU has conducted further training of government staff and staff from ACKU at the University of Kabul Central Library. Other small training sessions have been organised by the French Embassy, GTZ and the Goethe-Institut.

The Ministry of Information and Culture's Department of Public Libraries is keen to identify international partnerships which will facilitate the development of further basic training programmes for Afghan librarians.