ASSABIL Distributes books received through book donations from individuals and organizations to NGOs, public libraries and public schools.

Book donation policy and procedure

We acknowledge the great importance of donations to Beirut Municipal Public Libraries’ collection growth and development. In recognition of such, we welcome the reception of books or other information resources but any donation will undergo first the library selection process.

Any donation to the libraries must meet our collection development policy and, in the opinion of the professional staff, should enhance the value of the libraries’ collections.

Library selection process

Donor must provide the following information:

• Quantity of items and number of copies of each item.
• Title, author, date of publication and language of the items (it is requested to provide a list of titles when the quantity of items is big).
• Physical condition of items (donor can send to us photos of the donation).

Only when the donation is big and the donor is unable to provide the information needed, Assabil team can visit the donor’s premises to review the donation and take the appropriate decision.

We accept:

• Donations from individuals and institutions.
• Books in very good physical condition only (yellow, moldy, written in, and books having missing pages are not accepted).
• Fiction and non-fiction books published in the last 20 years.
• Reference books published in the last 5 years (e.g. encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc.).
• Periodicals issued in the last 2 years, except for complete back issues archives.
• Original copies (pirated or copied books or DVDs are not accepted).
• Information resources on general topics (textbooks, school Curriculum books, academic specialized books, academic journals, and TV series are not accepted).
• Up-to-date informational books published in the last 5 years (e.g. scientific, technological, investment, medical, legal, etc.).
• Book donations mainly in Arabic, French and English.
• Books supporting tolerance and intercultural understanding. Being a secular and non-partisan association, Assabil ensures that its collection reflects a diverse range of opinions and points of view, beyond political or religious propaganda.

Assabil reserves the right to:

• Add the donation to any of the Beirut Municipal Public Libraries collection.
• Store, organize and display the donation based on the library classification system.
• Sell the donation at Beirut Municipal Public Libraries book bazar.
• Distribute the donation to any of our partner libraries.

Contact and Delivery

For information, donors should contact Assabil’s focal point by phone or by email:
TEL +961 1 66 46 47   or  +961 70 10 99 79
EMAIL library@assabil.com

Upon approval by Assabil, the donation can be deposited at:

• Any of Beirut Municipal Public Libraries, in Bachoura, Geitawi, and Monnot (when the donation does not exceed 20 items).
• Assabil office, in Ras el Nabeh (when the donation exceeds 20 items).

Upon delivery, the donor must sign the book donation form of Assabil.