The Barakat Trust helped the Kenyon Institute(Jerusalem) librarian Hussain Gheith continue his part time job. He has been instrumental in developing the library collection which continues to include a core collection of works on modern Palestinian history to serve the changing needs of the library’s visitors.
Hussein is continuing in his arduous and articulate efforts to assist visiting researchers mainly from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, from local Palestinian universities, but also globally. The library remains a pre-eminent scholarly resource in Jerusalem which continues to be capitalised upon. Hussain has been instrumental in building these relationships and his prominent position as the former Head Librarian at Orient House makes him uniquely placed to ensure the Kenyon Institute continues to play a leading role in the local academic community.
Hussain Gheith continues to source and purchase Arabic books for the library from various local sources. These books are generally unavailable in other libraries in Jerusalem. In this way Mr Gheith continues to enhance the value of the library, ensuring its relevance to the growing number of researchers working in the sphere of Palestinian heritage and culture.
The growing usage of the library has established it as an important centre for Palestinian and foreign scholars, and the interactions between them are an extremely important part of the academic life of the city. This creates more work for Mr Gheith but his role in managing and maintaining the library and providing services to readers is crucial. Mr Gheith has devoted most of his time to absorbing the recent large book purchase into the collection. He is currently working on the content of a guide to the Kenyon library to provide information for local academic centers and universities.
