Despite the catastrophic living conditions that barely allow Lebanese people to secure a meal, private schools have imposed what they call a "contribution in dollars" in tuition fees, ranging between $250 and $1,000 or even more, depending on the school. Subsequently, before the start of the school year, those few remaining parents who can afford to educate their children were shocked by the astronomical prices of books, with some exceeding millions of Lebanese pounds. Meanwhile, used books are not available in large quantities at libraries because parents have been exchanging them directly among themselves in a bid to alleviate some of the burden. All of this, while the mandatory stationery for the year, including notebooks and pens, has not yet been taken into account, as their prices are also extremely high, with some notebooks costing between 100,000 and 300,000 Lebanese pounds.
Regarding this situation and the future of the sector, Joseph Taameh, Secretary of the Syndicate of Libraries, stated in an interview with "Al-Markazia" that "reports on activity in libraries have not been issued at the national level yet, as time has not permitted gathering all the data. However, initial impressions suggest that activity is acceptable compared to the past three years, during which the situation was catastrophic and sales were nonexistent due to COVID-19 and remote education."
He highlights that the sector operates with two types of books: "the official ones, which used to be distributed to public schools, and the books sold to private school students. As for the first type, UNICEF covered their costs last year, and we hoped, by sending more than one book, that they would be distributed as usual through libraries. However, we couldn't get any response, and they were distributed directly, depriving libraries of a crucial part of their seasonal profits. This year, we contacted the educational center responsible for producing them, and they informed us that UNICEF did not donate products this year, nor does the center have enough funding, which means that public school students today are without books, and we do not know their fate. Additionally, some private schools rely on the official book, particularly educational books in secondary classes."
Concerning book prices, Taameh explains that "an agreement was reached between the Ministry of Economy and the Syndicate of School Publishers to calculate the price of national books at 76% of the dollar exchange rate on the black market, while imported books, which are paid for in fresh dollars, are sold according to the daily market rate." He points out that the scarcity of used books in libraries is due to "the decision taken by schools to use the same books that were used in previous years, in light of online learning and COVID-19, along with the price differences resulting from the depreciation of the national currency against the dollar, which has led libraries to reduce their profits. Despite this, prices are still considered exorbitant for parents."
Regarding stationery and the primary materials for its manufacture, he confirms that "they are mostly imported and naturally affected by the dollar exchange rate." Commenting on the recent visit by the General Director of the Ministry of Economy, Mohamed Abu Haidar, to several libraries in the Sidon commercial market, which resulted in violations being recorded, Taameh states, "the syndicate does not cover any violating library. After Abu Haidar's visit, we contacted him, and he showed understanding after we clarified that the Syndicate of School Publishers informs libraries of the pricing every Monday, and only if the dollar fluctuates by 10% upwards or downwards from the established price is a new pricing issued. For the past two weeks, pricing has remained stable at an exchange rate of 33,000 pounds, thus book prices are calculated based on an exchange rate of 25,000 pounds (76% of the actual price), and during these two weeks, the exchange rate did not exceed 10% increase, reaching 35,000 pounds, so no new official price was issued. The Ministry of Economy has the right to record a violation against any library that violates this decision. However, given the rapid movement of exchange rates, it is almost impossible for a library to change book prices more than once a week. In this case, they would need a team dedicated solely to changing prices, which is impractical."
He concludes with, "libraries are undergoing suffocating conditions, especially in remote areas. The sector awaits the school season, which lasts 11 months, to sell within just one month. Meanwhile, official school books are absent, and private school books are purchased from the nearest library to the parents' residence. Without exaggeration, the sector is threatened with complete collapse."
