PALESTINE Located in the middle east of Asia Population approximately 8 million Religious Holy places Agricultural country Palestine

Libraries in Palestine University libraries : 8 libraries Public libraries : 12 libraries Special libraries : 40 libraries School libraries : 100’s of libraries

Birzeit University Library Established in 1924 Documents and special collections on Palestinian affairs; approximately 387 rare books Automated since 1985 using MINISIS system Students at Graduation

Al-Najah National University Library Established as a college library around 1960; became a university library in 1977 Automated since 1994 using ORACLE system Largest library in the West Bank Documents and special collections on Palestinian affairs; approximately 1500 rare books Teleconferencing facilities for use of faculty and post-graduates Students Celebrating

Palestinian Library Association Established in 1994 Coordinates all Palestinian Libraries Promotes technical and training support for Palestinian libraries Participation in the eIFL consortium

Future of Palestinian Libraries Establishing a national library Unification of catalogs in a union catalog Inter-library loan plan Better support for the Palestinian library association Thank You