Libraries in Saudi Arabia: Some reflections

Int.

Libr.

Rev.

(1983) 15, 365-373

Libraries in Saudi Arabia: Some Reflections MAURICE

B. LINE*

Little has been written about libraries in Saudi Arabia. The article in ELLS provides valuable information and historical background, but with the very rapid rate of change in the country it is already out of date. The same applies to a paper by Khalifa,2 which, although quite recently published, is based on 1976 data. Khurshid’s 1979 article3 is very selective in coverage, though it contains some useful information on public and school libraries and identifies problems. The most useful paper is that by Celli; it is recent, and in spite of its title “Some special libraries in Saudi Arabia” it deals with two of the seven university libraries and two public libraries as well as twelve special libraries. In spite of the fact that quite a few foreign librarians are working in Saudi libraries, they are largely unknown territory so far as the Western World is concerned. This is true of many countries-for example, what do most librarians know of libraries in Colombia or Bangladesh?-but Saudi Arabia is of special interest because of its peculiar circumstances. It not only has the money to create and maintain very good libraries, but it has very little tradition of librarianship or libraries, and so it has the unique opportunity of building a first-rate library system virtually from scratch. Other states on the Persian Gulf, like Kuwait and Bahrain, have similar resources, but they are so much smaller that they do not fall into the same category. This paper consists of observations and reflections arising from short visits to Saudi Arabia in January and November 1982. The first visit was sponsored by the British Council, and also took in Egypt. Although the *Director General, British Library Lending Division, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. t A. S. Tashkandy (1976). Saudi Arabia, Libraries in. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, Vol. 26, pp. 3077322. New York: Dekker. a Shaban A.. Kbalifa (1981). Libraries and librarianship in Saudi Arabia. Arab 3oumalfor Librariamhip and Infwmation Science 1, 98108. 3 Zahiruddin Khurshid (1979). Libraries and information centres in Saudi Arabia. Zntemational Library Review 11(4), 409419. 4 John P. Celli (1980). Special libraries of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Special Libraries 71(8), 358-364. 0020-7837/83/040365-k09$03.00/O

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visits were short, they were thought to be worth reporting for the reasons given above. The advances made in Saudi Arabia in the last 1O-20 years are indeed impressive. New universities, schools, research institutions, hospitals and various other organizations have burgeoned. Huge resources are being devoted to the development of other industries than oil, notably petrochemicals, steel and fertilizers. In parallel there has been an enormous growth ofJeddah and Riyadh, from ancient but small citiesin the case of Riyadh almost a forbidden city-to conurbations covering vast areas. Jeddah’s population has grown from some 60 000 in 1960 to one million today, and Riyadh’s growth is similar. Dammam and Dhahran, in the oil-producing area, hardly existed 30 years ago. Saudis who have been away for three or four years often quite literally do not recognize their neighbourhoods when they return. Saudi Arabia sees itself as having more than one special role in the Arab world. With the two holiest places in Islam, Mecca and Medina, it is the prime guardian of the Islamic heritage, to be preserved and maintained at all costs. There are of course other leading lights in the Islamic world-for example, Al Azhar University in Cairo, probably the oldest university still in existence (founded AD 969) and the most important religious university in Islam-but Saudi Arabia wants to preserve a strictly Islamic culture and society, uncorrupted in its fundamentals by alien influences and also free of Islamic heresy. Saudi Arabia has moved rapidly into the twentieth century, but an Islamic twentieth century, not a Western one. If the Islamic role is seen as an inheritance, a second major role that Saudi Arabia has taken on is as an economic, scientific and technological leader and benefactor in the Arab world, able to initiate and fund research and development plans for the benefit of other Arab countries. The Arab Urban Development Institute is an example of an institution that benefits Saudi Arabia at the same time as it serves other countries. Rapid growth and huge wealth have brought with them huge problems. The social pressures caused by urban growth, and an inevitable drift towards the cities, must be great. So are the problems of accommodation within a Saudi society of a very large foreign labour force, even though many of them are Muslims. There are probably more than two-and-a-half million foreigners to the six or seven million Saudis-over a quarter of the people in the country-and about 80% of the work force is foreign. Egyptians predominate in the West; in the East Pakistanis are rather more numerous. There are Malaysians, Koreans, Filipinos, Chinese (from Taiwan and Hong Kong), Indians, Thais, Lebanese and many other nationalities, including Americans, Japanese and British. Even though foreign workers are not

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permanent-contracts may be for two years or less-their presence, and indeed their rapid turnover, must create difficulties and pressures. To preserve a truly Saudi culture, and in tune with the tradition of proud independence, there is a policy of gradual “Saudi-ization”. This is illustrated by the University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran. In 1972, 71 of the 72 teaching staff at UPM were foreign; in 1981, 333 out of 573 were foreign (including 92 American and 73 British). At the same time, Saudi Arabia is dependent on imports for almost everything except oil, so that good relations with other countries are even more vital than they are to some other Arab countries; this of course largely accounts for the moderation shown by Saudi Arabia within OPEC in determining oil prices. The centrality of the Qu’ran, and the tradition of rote learning, exercise an important influence throughout school education. Until relatively recently most of the population was nomadic, and a good deal of it (around a quarter) still is. The use of books as a means of selfeducation is largely alien to Islamic tradition, although this tradition has been somewhat eroded in some other Islamic countries. The illiteracy rate was 70% in the 195Os, and girls’ schools did not exist at all until 1957. In spite of huge investment in education in the last twenty years, many students still come to university with little or no prior experience in the handling of books and information. (Women are, incidentally, educated entirely separately from men in universities.) Nor is there yet much tradition of research, although many Saudis have passed through foreign, mainly American, universities in the last decade or so. Inevitably, indigenous publishing is very small in quantity. Very few books are published, and a good proportion of these are issued What journals there are also come mainly from by universities. universities; these consist almost entirely (perhaps entirely) of articles by members of the university in question, and are published partly for prestige purposes, partly for use in exchange (although, as will be seen, acquisition budgets are far from tightly constrained). All this is background, but an essential background, to the understanding of libraries in Saudi Arabia. In January 1982 I visited four of the seven university libraries [King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, King Sa’ud University (until recently called Riyadh University) and Imam Mohammad ibn Sa’ud Islamic University in Riyadh, and the University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran]; three special libraries (Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Arab Urban Development Institute, and Institute of Public Administration, all in Riyadh); and the Saudi Arabian National Center for Science and Technology (SANCST) in Riyadh. I also talked with the staff of the main library school, in Jeddah. In November I spent most of my time at SANCST, but I also

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visited the so-called National,Library, in effect the main public library in Riyadh, which carries out some national functions. I did not see any other public libraries. Major special libraries I did not see include the International Airports Projects library in Jeddah, a good account of which has appeared elsewhere,l and the medical libraries associated with some of the new hospitals; health as well as education has been a high priority. Public libraries are served by the National Library, most of whose resources, of staff and money, are devoted to selecting, acquiring and processing stock for itself and the 50 other public libraries in the kingdom. In 1981 2000 titles in Arabic and 4000 in other languages were obtained. At least 200 copies of every title are collected; the number of copies dispatched (at very infrequent intervals) to each public library varies according to its size and interests-some may receive as many as 150 copies of a title. The total number of volumes acquired in 1981 was 737 000. The acquisition budget for 1982 was L2.5 million, and there is clearly a long way to go in developing public libraries to a reasonable level. Not unexpectedly, university libraries have developed much more rapidly-very rapidly when one considers that the first university in Saudi Arabia (the University of Riyadh, now called King Sa’ud University) was not established until 1957. With no local tradition and no time to allow one to evolve, the temptation, and probably the need, to use existing models was very strong, and the obvious pattern to adopt was the American one. The influence of American models and consultants on both the buildings and the organization of libraries is clearly visible. It betrays itselfin the design of buildings and furniture, in the adoption of open access-an unusual feature outside the Englishspeaking world-in the use of the Dewey Decimal Classification (in UPM, of the LC Classification) and in various other more subtle ways. One major difference is imposed by Saudi society: women are educated separately, by women teachers or CCTV, and they have their own separate libraries. Acquisition budgets are enviable by most standards, especially since universities are not huge: the largest, King Sa’ud University, has 14 000 students, UPM only 3200. In the university libraries I saw, they ranged from &I.7 million to LO.62 million. The size of budgets makes careful selection largely unnecessary, and blanket orders with American or British suppliers are common, though these are supplemented by suggestions by library staff and faculty. Stocks varied in size in the libraries I saw between 350000 and 650000 volumes: UPM, a fairly 1 George

McMurdo

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(1981).

363-367.

The

IAP

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Abdulaziz

International

Airport.

Aslib

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specialized institution though one of the earlier universities to be created (1964), has 500000. C urrent journal purchases in three of the libraries range from 3800 to 7000: the fourth, the Imam Mohammad ibn Sa’ud Islamic University in Riyadh, takes only 1400, but this university is concerned only with religion, the humanities and social sciences, and most of the stock is in Arabic. As in all countries, centralization versus decentralization of university libraries is an issue, though not apparently a very acute one. Most universities seem to have some college libraries as well as the central library, but the latter contain the bulk of the stock, and management and processing are usually highly centralized. The women’s colleges, as already noted, have their own libraries. In most developing countries not only is open access a rarity, but borrowing is severely restricted, largely because the library stock is regarded as an important capital asset for which the librarian must take responsibility. There is none of this restrictiveness in Saudi Arabia. External users as well as members of the university are normally welcome to use the library, and they are usually permitted to borrow, under certain conditions. That borrowings are not heavy, except in UPM, is presumably largely due to the already mentioned unfamiliarity ofstudents with self-centred learning through books, and perhaps also to the nature of university teaching, though this too appears to be heavily influenced by the United States, from which many of the faculty came, especially in the early days. (King Sa’ud University, with 14000 students, lent 30000 items last year, while UPM, with 3200, lent 55 000). There is another factor that must affect library use by students. It is usual for universities to select, purchase and distribute to students books for their personal use; the student pays only 25% of the price, and in UPM he pays nothing at all. This practice, while it may have much to commend it, must surely tend to discourage students from selecting books for themselves, whether for purchase or for library consultation or borrowing. Although libraries seem to be designed for service, they are not obviously service oriented: indeed, in one or two cases I had the impression of collections waiting for users. Computer-based retrieval and similar services may or may not be available, but they are not prominent. This may be because most of the staff have to be occupied in processing the intake of material. (In spite of the use of cards from Blackwell North America and similar concerns, backlogs in processing can be extensive.) UPM, an exception in this as in other ways, makes real efforts to offer a range of positive services and also to orientate new students, although UPM staff themselves regard their efforts as insufficient.

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Automation has been surprisingly slow to develop, possibly because of the problems posed by Arabic script, possibly because of lack of local systems and programming expertise; few library operations are not manual, and catalogues are nearly all on cards, though some journal lists have been put on to a computer. Rapid growth creates problems, which seem likely to become more severe. Buildings are new and generally handsome, but are either temporary, in process ofextension, or due to be extended soon. Seating is not a serious problem, but shelving is. Libraries may soon have to choose between huge open-access collections, which could be very difficult and inhibiting to use, removal of much material to closed storage, microfilming, or outright disposal. Disposal would reduce national availability in the absence of any national repository and indeed of any other libraries with the capacity to house withdrawn materials. Conservation will surely be a major problem, especially since so many publications from Arab countries are on very poor paper and the climate ranges from very dry (Riyadh) to very humid (Jeddah and Dhahran) . It is possible too that buildings will prove hard to maintain in good condition, though the distressing state of recent buildings in many developing countries is due not only to the climate but to the poor quality of building materials, especially concrete, and this at any rate should not apply in Saudi Arabia; nor should an all too frequent tendency in developing countries to neglect maintenance. Universities, and their libraries, are heavily dependent on foreign staff, though as stated earlier efforts are being made to reduce this dependence. Typically, the more senior posts are held by Saudis, but below there is a mixture of Saudis and expatriates. In libraries the foreign staff are mainly Egyptians and Pakistanis, but UPM has four American librarians. The head of the library is usually a Dean of Library Affairs, an academic appointed full-time to the post for three years (which may be renewed for one further term) by the University President. Below him is a Vice-Dean, also an academic, usually appointed for two years (also renewable). Below that there may, as in KAAU and Mohammad ibn Sa’ud Islamic University, be a Director of the (Central) Library, on a salary substantially less than that of a library school professor; or there may, as in King Sa’ud University, be no-one between the Vice-Dean and heads of library departments. UPM, where the Deanship is a permanent job occupied by a professional librarian (with a doctorate from Pittsburgh), is an exception. Apart from UPM, the lack of a permanent professional head could lead to serious difficulties. It must take the Dean two or three years to learn the job fully-by which time his period of office is over. Below him there is either a void or a senior manager on a low salary. The main

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reason for low salaries is apparently that library staff are regarded as administrative, not academic. There are other features that could inhibit good management, let alone innovation. Most staff in professional library jobs appear to have been trained in Cairo University School of Librarianship, a very large school (the largest in the world, with 1200 students) with a very conservative curriculum. This built-in conservatism may be modified as Saudi Arabia develops its own library schools; there are at present three, only one of which, in KAAU, is yet of any size (150 students). However, this has been staffed almost entirely by Egyptians, so that the conservative tradition is in danger of being passed on. Rethinking of the purpose, nature and content of library education is urgently needed if Saudi Arabia is to break clear of tradition, develop its own library ethos and exploit the resources allocated to library and information services to the full benefit of users. There is a danger too that bureaucracy in the university adminisadministration is tration could be an inhibiting factor. University heavily loaded with foreigners, particularly Egyptians and Pakistanis, who will inevitably have imported their own concepts and attitudes into Saudi Arabia, although the great differences between Saudi Arabia and their own countries are likely to modify their views. Surprisingly, staffing levels are not very generous. KAAU has only 50 library staff (20 of them professional). King Sa’ud University has 150. UPM’s 57 library staff, including 30 professional, may seem reasonable for a student body of 3200, but intake is very large and, as explained, services are more extensive. The reasons for this relative parsimony are not very clear. The special libraries I saw are, like the university libraries, very well funded. The acquisition budget of the Institute of Public Administration Library and Documentation Centre is some E550000 a year, and is increasing. The stock numbers 40 000 volumes (three quarters of them in English), and includes 690 current journals. The Library and Documentation Centre recently moved from its previous two floors to five floors in an even newer building, where it has ten times as much space. There are 25 staff. Most special libraries are serviceoriented-they would hardly justify their existence otherwise-and the IPA has ambitious plans to extend its services, already quite impressive, to making available on-line abstracts and indexes of all Saudi Arabian legislative material. The IPA has a responsibility for this material, but since there is no official national system for the collection of other Saudi Arabian government documents the IPA looks after all these as well. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Library is at present mainly a book stock (including 350 current journals); over El00 000 was spent

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last year on books and equipment, but there is no theoretical limit on expenditure. The Library is feeling its way towards a more positive information service. The same is even more true of the Arab Urban Development Institute, which started operation as recently as Summer 1981, and which is intended to serve other Arab states; the collection and the service are both in embryo at the moment, but are expected to develop fast. It is difficult to gauge the potential of the National Library, partly because it is constrained by an inadequate building. A new building, with about 48 000 square metres of floor space, should be available in two or three years’ time. The National Library carries out at present very few truly national functions, and those only at a low level: more than a move into the new building may be needed to make it a national library in function as well as name. A newcomer to the scene will be the King Faisal Foundation Library, which has very extensive funds and very ambitious aims; it could well become one of the world’s major resources of Arab culture in the form of recorded knowledge (sound and video recordings as well as the printed word), as well as having large holdings of other material. It is doubtful however whether it could provide leadership of the kingdom’s library and information services. The potential national importance of SANCST is great. One of its main functions is as a national information centre, and its collection of scientific and technical journals, at present rudimentary, could develop to become the basis of a national service. Interlibrary lending does occur in Saudi Arabia at present, but there is no organized system and no union catalogues. It could be left to evolve, as has happened nearly everywhere else, or Saudi Arabia could take a marvellous, quite possibly unique, opportunity to plan a really effective system from scratch, unhampered by traditions, prejudices and conventional practices that have, for all their long history, proved remarkably ineffective in most countries. With its resources, Saudi Arabia could provide a first-rate service not only to institutions and users in the country but to other Arab countries in the Middle East, which are not in a good position to develop good systems for themselves. The outlines of a possible system, in which SANCST would play a leading (if not the leading) part, are clear, but whether and how far a system is developed is clearly a matter for SANCST. It is not only in national document supply that Saudi Arabia has a splendid opportunity to plan and develop good libraries and information services. At present there seems to be no focus for national planning; as in many countries, responsibility for libraries and information services is divided among several ministries, and there is no coordinating machinery. At a local level, the chance to innovate is

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gradually slipping away; as libraries, based as they are on foreign (mainly American) models, grow in size and their staffbegin to set into a certain mould, change will become more and more difficult. At some point-and this should be very soon-Saudi Arabian librarians and information personnel will need to decide, individually and collectively, precisely what they want their systems to be and do. The balance between book stock and information service is only one aspect of this. In universities, rethinking must be done in the context of university education in general, and related to teaching and learning methods. Only when basic functions and objectives have been clearly defined can appropriate systems be designed. A library and information association would clearly help this process-at present there is none, though deans of university libraries meet from time to time. The conclusions reached may require a substantial departure from American or indeed European models; this may happen gradually anyway as Saudis take over more and more of the senior and middlelevel posts, but the superimposition of Saudi-ization on a basically American system is not likely to yield such good results as a basic rethinking. An ideal system would be one that was designed for real Saudi Arabian needs and that borrowed as appropriate from experience and practice elsewhere. This may be best achieved by joint teams of Saudi Arabians and foreigners-preferably from more than one country-working together rather than by conventional consultancies. The role of the schools of library and information studies in Saudi Arabia is clearly crucial, but this, like the design of library and information systems, should not be determined until objectives have been defined: until it is clear what services are needed, library schools cannot design courses to produce people to provide the services. Here again Saudi Arabia has exceptional opportunities to innovate. What is suggested is obviously difficult, because most of those who would be asked to rethink have already been conditioned to a certain mode of thinking, in particular to the belief that libraries and information services are organized in certain ways. It would probably help if some scientists, social scientists and systems analysts with only a rudimentary knowledge of libraries except as users were called in to challenge assumptions and suggest fresh approaches. The question must always be not “how is it usually done?” but “what needs to be done and what is the best way of doing it.2” Saudi Arabia could, if it took a sufficiently radical approach, provide a very salutary example to other countries.