In a country where there are very few public libraries, the Riyadh International Book Fair offers a rare chance to buy books, said Hussam Al-Moqhiem, a computer science student at King Saud University (KSU). “In the absence of that borrow-lending facility as in other countries, we simply have to keep buying every time we find a book of choice,” he said. Al-Moqhiem was looking for a book on Philosophy, authored by a Russian. He could not find it at the fair, he said. Ahmed Al-Othman, a young publisher, agreed with Al-Moqhiem that Saudis have built up libraries at home. “I did not buy any books at this fair because I have collected a number of books that I've not yet finished reading,” he said. Al-Othman fledgling publishing house Rahlath Al-Hayat (Journey of Life Publishing House) has published four books but it could not find place at the fair “merely because of my limited number of publications.” After having toured the fair, he said he found several books of interest to women, “such as fiction, poetry, fashion, beauty, health and cuisine.” Hamoud Al-Marzouki, a medical student, said he was looking for some classic Arabic titles such as Ibn Sena's book on medicine. He was dismayed though: the book by Ibn Sena who is regarded as the father of early modern medicine, has not made it to the fair. “I study in France and thought I should benefit from the fair by buying some of the titles on Arabic poetry and on Islam, but unfortunately I couldn't find them here,” he said. Salah Al-Ali, a college student said he was drawn to the fair by glowing press reports but after visiting and a long search for books, he ended up buying only CD games. Thamer Al-Abdullah, another disappointed visitor, said he was handed a list of books on display, which included “Maseerat Mal Al-Hayat”, but he could not find it at any of the publishers' stalls. But there were several other who found what they wanted. Abdullah Khalifa Al-Damshaq, a father of three, said his wife wanted him to buy books on Child Psychology. He picked up books on child upbringing, such as “Ilab wal Tarbiya” (Play and Learn) and “Al-Ithfal Al-Mazharin (How to Control a Troublesome child), for SR200. The fair has an exclusive section for books on children and other educational aids. Publishers of children's books say the advent of the Internet has hit their business hard because more and more parents are downloading the books online. Others are using computers to educate their children online One Egyptian vendor was quick to argue that computer games are also easily available online “I am optimistic of a revival of the reading habit among the children because more and more parents are realizing the ill-effects of the Internet on children.” Most Arabic writers of children's books have changed their strategy by including playful chapters that make reading more interesting, he said. Khalid Al-Mutairi, a school principal who brought his two daughters, Razan (11) and Dana (8), to the fair in the hope of buying some as short stories and poetry in English was surprised to find that “almost all the books available are in Arabic.” Al-Mutairi, a Saudi, had lived in Canada for three years where his daughters learned to speak fluent English. He was worried that his girls would soon “lose whatever English they learned in Canada.” He left with a lot of Arabic books for Razan and Dana. Razan was upset. “I learnt to speak English while in Canada and I want to develop the English reading habit for better understanding of the language,” she said. Riyadh International Book Fair will continue through March 14 at Riyadh International Exhibition Center in Olaya. The timings are 9 A.M. to noon and 4 P.M. to 10 P.M. Entrance is free and the last two days are reserved for family visitors only. __
