The Family Library is a project designed to make available in print form, and at token prices, Arabic literary and ‘intellectual' masterpices, as well as the books that shaped the march of human civilization from the times of the Greeks to the present day.
How the Family Library was born ?
The idea of the Family Library Project first saw the light of day in 1994. It had sprung originally as a meeting held by the supreme ‘Reading for All' Board, under Her Excellency Mrs. Suzan Mubarak, Chairperson of the Board and sponsor of the ‘Reading for All' Festival. Various government departments participating in the ‘Festival' jointly financed the project. These were :
* The Supreme Council for Youth and Sport.
* The Ministry of Education.
* The Ministry of Local Government.
* The Integrated Care Society.
* The Ministry of Information.
* The Ministry of Youth.
The national ‘Reading for All' campaign has changed countenance with the introduction of the ‘Family Library' in the Festival's fourth year. It began to be concerned not only with offering books for readers at public libraries but worked actively to produce books in various fields and so produced unprecedented numbers of copies in the history of Egyptian publishing. The result has been to create a rich and effective cultural climate in Egyptian society. This was accompanied by the expansion of the Festival coverage : it now addressed itself not only to children, but also to young people and all members of the family. The motto has been, since 1994, “for children, for young people, for the family”. Thus a major tributary of the project was born, namely the Family Library.
Objectives of the Family Library :
The Family Library has sought to make available to the modern Egyptian society the fruit of human genius –– in science, philosophy and art –– thereby opening windows on the intellectual achievement of the whole world. The best that has been accomplished by man, locally and worldwide, in the fields of creative writing and in science and technology would be an effective force in the minds and hearts of the Egyptians. The past would be linked to the future through presenting Arabic and Islamic classics.
Such a project is bound to encourage the rising generation to read until reading becomes a habit or even a necessity. Young people should then realize the importance of reading. Highly important books were thus made available, at token prices, to millions of readers in the middle-income brackets. This partly contributed to the solution of the problem of refraining from reading because of the high prices of books.
Since inception, the Family Library has been eager to offer infinite varieties of culture. This has been done in the firm belief that tomorrow's society can only be established on a basis of real knowledge. It is knowledge that can keep the Egyptian society abreast of the new age mainly characterised by the information revolution. Writers and intellectuals have rightly regarded this project as a comprehensive cultural confrontation with the forces of darkness, and a resurrection of the glory of modern Egyptian culture, creatively and intellectually.
The project has helped readers to acquire such books, and so build up a home library for every family; this should, it is hoped, help to effect a kind of social change capable of making all members of society positively participate in the assimilation of modern knowledge and modes of conduct, as well as adjust to the scientific, intellectual and technological changes of our age.
Approved by the Higher Board of the ‘Reading for All' Festival, the objectives of the project are :
I. to encourage young people, and citizens at large, to read;
II. to revive the Egyptian national spirit, and pride in the real Egyptian culture, by making available to young people and citizens such literary, creative, religious, and intellectual works which have been behind their civilizational march and intellectual advancement;
III. to disseminate those real and true ideas which have shaped the civilizational and enlightenment march of the Egyptian people in modern times, as well as to take a giant stride on the road of cultural confrontation with those ideas which drove young people to extremism;
IV. to offer knowledge of the most recent scientific achievements, by publishing the most recent works in science so as to keep abreast of scientific and technological progress in the world;
V. to establish links with other civilizations through translation; for it is translation which helps young people to familiarize themselves with the achievements of other peoples in literary, scientific and intellectual spheres;
VI. to raise people's consciousness of their Arab and Islamic legacy, in confirmation of their national identity; this is being done by making available the masterpieces of our enlightenment legacy. An allied target is to reinforce the sense of national belonging in young people by allowing them to learn all about Egyptian history, from Pharaonic times to the present day. Only thus could the present be seen as the natural outcome of a whole civilizational march that has participated in shaping human history, in entrenching religious, social, intellectual, scientific and other values. This target is being achieved through the publication of certain series of books, such as The Arab Heritage, Egyptian History, Literary Masterpieces, and Academic Works.
The Family Library continued to achieve into objectives and to develop until, in 2000, it began to publish major encyclopedias. These were essential reference books to be consulted by all members of the family. They are also seminal books; they are indispensable for the deepening of awareness of the ideas and achievements which have shaped the march of Egyptian civilization from the dawn of history, as well as human civilization in general.
The first of such great encyclopedias to be published in the Family Library was a re-print of The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, by the far-famed Egyptologist Selim Hassan, in 16 volumes. Each is 600-800 page-long, and was sold at the ridiculously low price of five Egyptian pounds (under one US dollar). This encyclopedia is essential for every student of Egypt's ancient history, science, art, religion, rich life, as well as the development of the various aspects of her civilization. It is an indefatiguable source of knowledge concerning that civilization, rightly regarded as the dawn of human conscience.
The Family Library has been an important indicator of a fresh culture wherein the present is linked to the past, heralding a brighter future. The fact that people throng in their thousands to read books in countless public libraries, and acquire millions of copies of the books published in the Family Library, testifies to the profound awareness of the importance of culture now common to all Egyptians, old and young, and reveals an incontroversial desire to acquire knowledge.
Family Library Series :
Masterpieces of Arabic Literature (Creative Works). The Family Library has made available to young people (and the Egyptians at large) Arabic literary masterpieces by the giants of Arabic literature such as Tewfiq al-Hakim, Naguib Mahfouz, Yusuf al-Siba‘i, Yahya Haqqi, Ihsan Abdul-Quddus, Mahmoud Teymour, Farid Abu Hadid, Mahammad Husayn Haykal, Yusuf Idris and others. The series developed and later published the output of the 1960s and 1970s, by the renowned writers Gamal al-Ghitani, Baha‘ Tahir, Fathi Ghanim, and Muhammad Mustagab. Other distinguished writers were also published.
The Development of the Family Library Series :
In 1994 the Family Library started with two series only, namely ‘Creative and Acadmic Works', with 40 titles, and ‘Heritage of Human Thought', with 127 titles, that is, 167 titles, of each were printed 50,000 – 100,000 copies, so that the total figure ran into millions of copies.
In 1995 the Family Library offered the same two series but decreased the number of titles in the former to 35, of the latter to 51, with a grand total of 86, of each were printed 50,000 – 100,000 copies, and millions of copies were again made available to the reading public.
In 1996 the Family Library offered 9 series : Creative Works (68 titles), Academic Works (44 titles), Literary Masterpieces (6 titles), Masterpieces from our Arab Heritage (5 titles), The Enlightenment (24 titles), Scientific works (25 titles), Heritage of Human Thought (24 titles), Young Authors (45 titles) –– that is, 246 titles, with a total volume of 18 million copies.
In 1997 the Family Library offered 9 series : Creative Works (34 titles), Academic Works (39 titles), Literary Masterpieces (4 titles), Masterpieces from our Arab Heritage (8 titles), apart from newly introduced series which were a resounding success. Foremost among these were (1) ‘Egyptian History' which deals with the links between modern, contemporary culture with ancient Egyptian Civilization; (2) ‘Masterpieces of World Literature for Children' (22 titles), which fulfilled the need of the children in the ‘family' for a distinguished home library, and (3) ‘Books for young people' (27 titles) which offered the young a general library in all fields.
The grand total of titles for that year reached 170, with the number of copies printed of each again ranging between 50,000 and 100,000, so that millions of copies were thus made available.
In 1998, the Family Library offered 9 series : Creative Works (39 titles), Academic Works (27 titles), Religious Works (14 titles), Scientific Works (previously introduced in 1996 to help the readers keep abreast of advances made in the age of science and information) (13 titles), Literary Masterpieces (15 titles), ‘Masterpieces of World Literature for Children' (17 titles), ‘Books for Young People' (16 titles), ‘Arab Heritage' (12 titles), with a grand total of 188 titles, with the number of copies printed of each again ranging between 50,000 and 100,000, providing millions of copies to the Arabic readership.
In 1999, the Family Library offered 10 series, including : ‘Creative Works' (44 titles), ‘Academic Works' (36 titles), ‘Egyptian History' (22 titles), ‘Religious Works' (11 titles), ‘Scientific Works' (33 titles), ‘Literary Masterpieces' (14 titles), ‘Arab Heritage' (18 titles); and ‘Masterpieces of World Literature for Children' (12 titles).
Over and above those, a new series was introduced, namely ‘Environment Issues'. The Family Library was guided in the choice of the series by the need to raise people's awareness of the problems of the environment, the potential effects of degrading the environment, and the need to adopt a scientific approach to environment issues. The series was designed in cooperation with the Environment Ministry. The total number of titles in the Family Library for that year was 254, of each were printed 50,000 – 100,000 copies, with a total of millions of copies.
Over seven years, the grand total of titles chosen for the Family Library reached 1700, of which more than 30 million copies were printed.
Statistics on the Family Library Series :
Figures for the series published in the Family Library from 1994 to 2004 :
1. The largest number of series was published in 2001, i.e. 26 series (16.2% of the total).
2. Both 2000 and 2002 came second, with 25 series each, (15.5%).
3. Next came 2003, with 24 series, (13%).
4. In 1999 the number of series was 19 (11.2%).
5. In 1998 only 14 series were issued (8.7%).
6. 1996 saw the publication of 11 series (6.9%).
7. Ten series appeared in 1997 (6.8%).
8. Four series were published in 1995 (2.5%).
9. In 1994,3 series were printed (1.9%).
Series appearing only once :
The titles which appeared in the Family Library, on a yearly basis, from 1994-2003.
In the said decade (1994-2003) The Family Library boasted 2,875 titles.
1. The year 2002 tops the list : 490 titles appeared, accounting for 16.2% of the total.
2. This is followed by 2003, with 415 titles (14.3%).
3. In the third place came 2001, with 389 (13.5%).
4. In the fourth place come 1999, with 330 titles (11.5%).
5. In the fifth place came 2000, with 327 titles (11.4%).
6. This was followed by 1996, with 274 titles (9.5%).
7. Following was 1998, with 244 titles (8.5%).
8. In 1997 there were 183 titles (6.3%).
9. In 1994 there were 135 titles (5.4%).
10. Finally, in 1995, there were 88 titles (3.4%).
