Rebuilding a library is not just a matter of filling shelves. It requires a place, a team, working methods and the trust of local residents. In Lebanon, that rebuilding is now taking a collective form. According to a report published by UNESCO on September 17, 2026, 52 professionals representing 34 public libraries attended four days of training on September 1, 2, 8 and 9. The organisation describes this step as the beginning of a broader initiative to rehabilitate the country’s library network. More is at stake than repairing buildings: the aim is to make everyday access to culture and knowledge possible again.
People before buildings
UNESCO’s account begins in Bint Jbeil, where a public library was destroyed. Its librarian, Rima Charara, remains committed to rebuilding it. Her case points to something easily overlooked in renovation announcements. An institution does not work because it has a sign above the door, but because people can welcome visitors, guide them, choose resources and maintain a service. Training librarians cannot replace construction work or lost collections. It can, however, protect expertise without which material investment will have limited impact.
Participants came from libraries across the country, from north to south. They worked on planning, identifying local needs, designing programmes and building partnerships. The sessions also covered the use of data to inform decisions. In practice, that could mean discovering which opening hours work for families, which books are actually borrowed or which groups are absent. These are possible applications of the training, not documented results for all 34 institutions. Their value is to prevent a restored library from being designed around assumptions about its public rather than the public’s real habits.
Local cultural infrastructure
A public library serves several purposes beyond lending books. It can provide a study space, access to digital resources, meetings with writers or a place where children discover the pleasure of reading. Its value also lies in its regular presence. Unlike a major cultural event, it remains available long after the opening ceremony photograph. That is why service quality depends as much on opening hours, a welcoming atmosphere and continuity of activities as on the number of volumes on the shelves.
UNESCO says the sessions addressed communication, documenting activities and relationships with schools, organisations and other potential partners. That approach turns the library into a meeting point rather than a silent storehouse. But it takes staff time. Building a school partnership, preparing a workshop or helping someone unfamiliar with digital tools all require sustained resources. Expanding a library’s mission should not become a way of asking under-supported teams to do ever more without the means to do it well.
The quiet work of managing collections
Another part of the training followed a book through its full life in a public library: selection, acquisition, cataloguing, circulation, evaluation and, where necessary, withdrawal. The terminology sounds technical, but it shapes the reader’s experience. Without a reliable catalogue, a book may be in the building yet impossible to find. Without an acquisitions policy, the collection can grow old while local needs change. Without clear circulation rules, lending becomes harder to manage and share across institutions. Standardising some procedures across a network need not make every library identical. It can free staff to respond to the particular needs of each town or neighbourhood.
Digital resources and responsible internet use were also on the agenda. Here, too, the question is more than providing screens. Libraries must be able to help users find information, evaluate its source and protect their personal data. A connection without guidance can reproduce existing inequalities between people who already know how to use digital tools and those who most need support. Staff digital skills therefore become part of public access to knowledge, just like a well-organised collection.
A first step, not a final assessment
UNESCO is carrying out the initiative with Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture, supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Beirut, MCN Build Foundation and Loops. According to the organisation, later phases will continue skills development, improve library systems and modernise spaces and services. It would be premature to claim the work is complete. The September report documents training and outlines a programme still to come. To judge its impact, observers will need to track how many libraries reopen or become stronger, whether operating resources are sustained and whether people continue to visit over time.
The reflections of Arlette Abi Akar Khoury, a librarian in Sin El Fil, point to another dimension: a library can help someone discover an unexpected interest. That possibility is hard to fit into a performance dashboard, but it helps explain why a place open to everyone matters in a city. The Lebanese network’s promise is to connect such intimate experiences to solid organisation: trained professionals, shared procedures and local partnerships. Restoring walls will be essential. Giving residents a reason to walk through the door and then return will be the real result.
