Celine Aljamil

This article was published with Kalaam Banat magazine on December 2020

Lana Halabi and her family laid out their books on the stand of a book-fair in 2016. In only four months, their stand will be transformed into their presently well-known bookshop. Halabi Bookshop is community-based bookshop bridging astounding, and emerging authors from all genres, where reading circles are for children and adults alike. 

“Usually, there would be between 30-40 people in our library from adults to children. They all fit  (don’t ask me how!),” exclaims Lana. 

She tells me about how there’s a particular yellow couch that all kids quarrel over during the reading circles, with young Layan often conquering.

The bookshop has an incredible outreach, although it is  quite far off from central Beirut in the suburb of Tarik el Jdeede. Typically, prestigious cultural institutions are located in the center, in popular and trendy neighborhoods like Hamra, Mar Mkhayel, or Achrafieh. 

Tarik el Jdeede, unlike the rest, is considered to be a conservative neighborhood, but Lana does not seem bothered by their hidden location: In fact, she embraces it.

 “It’s so important to have a bookshop in every neighborhood, just as you have a bakery or a minimarket. So that is what I aspire to achieve in the long run. I want to create a network.”

Alongside their reading circles, Halabi has a book club where a range of literary discussions takes place right outside, on their sidewalk. Their first timely selection was Ghassan Kanafani’s “Returning to Haifa,” because it was right around the month of the Palestinian Exodus. 

Right outside the shop, they have managed to create a cozy seating with a neat rug in its center, surrounded by a variation of benches and chairs. 

“We prepared some coffee and tea, as if we were having a meetup at our house. Twenty-five people showed up. I kept on going in and out of the bookshop, and bit by bit, I witnessed the number of people grow,” boasted Lana.  

“When we are holding our discussions on the sidewalk, our events become public rather than private. So, anyone passing might get intrigued by the lights and the blasting speaker or find us serving refreshments and snacks, eventually getting curious and pausing to listen or engage,” described Lana. 

Halabi has thus far avoided controversial subjects, keeping their discussions literary. 

“Through literature, we are highlighting social and political issues. For example, Emily Nasrallah’s ‘The Oleander Bush’ is a staple which addresses feminist issues that seem to be relevant still. Politics and literature are sometimes part and parcel, as most authors discuss their present,” negotiated Lana. She elaborated that rarely have their book club discussions faced interruptions or unwanted contributions.

Their monthly literary picks are always full of meaning or virtue. In 2018, as the Parliamentary Elections crept nearer, Lana purposely chose George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” When famous Lebanese author May Menassa passed away, they read one of her works to familiarize the youth with her brilliancy. In 2016, when the xenophobic and racist discourse reached a plight, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee was picked. 

Yet not of all of their selections have been met with praise. They once faced backlash on Instagram after they decided to post an autobiography for Kassem Soleimani after his passing. Soleimani was an Iranian commander with close-ties to Hezboallah.

“Of course, people who knew us realized that we’re not politically affiliated, other than the important values we propagate like patriotism or supporting the Palestinian cause,” clarified Lana. In a subtle attempt to convey the bookshops political neutrality, Lana has had two books with opposing characters placed right by one another. 

“So, we only uploaded this book because we felt many people would be interested in reading about Soleimani. It just felt natural for us to upload a book about a relevant subject,” she continued.

Proving to be very socially aware, Halabi Bookshop is just as considerate when creating and maintaining their community. Lana and her team personalize the book-purchasing experience down to the very last detail, ensuring that they provide a reasonable price list as well during these difficult times. 

“We are a social business, where our focus is equally across the social and commercial parts,” defined Lana. Currently, they are looking for grants to support their bookshop while providing activities for free. 

“I miss our gatherings, seeing people fill up the store. Everyone comes with their unique energy,” lamented Lana. The last time they held an event was right before the spread of COVID-19. Upon lockdown, they closed for three months with book delivery services still operating. Luckily, people’s demand for books increased during this period. 

At the moment, they are one of the many small businesses battling Lebanon’s worst economic crisis yet. According to a report by BBC, “Lebanon’s public debt-to-gross domestic product (what a country owes compared to what it produces) is the third-highest in the world; unemployment stands at 25%, and nearly a third of the population is living below the poverty line.” 

Halabi Bookshop had felt the stings of the declining lira rate as early as September 2019, as they were struggling to keep the prices of books stable and reasonable, with some suppliers increasing their exchange rate instantly, and others running on the losses of 1,500LL per dollar. 

“We tried as much as possible to cope, adapting fast. Of course, there have been drawbacks, but we’re still here, so that’s really good,” reassured Lana. 

“We never wanted our shop to be classist or discriminatory as we always put considerate prices. Everyone should have access to books.”

Halabi Bookshop has multiple used books with discounted prices. The challenge lies with new books arriving, when the bookshop cannot do much as the publishing houses and distributors are the ones with the upper hand. As for the secondhand book selection, they are still being sold at discounted prices.

Yet despite the challenges ten months of the ongoing crisis has brought on, Halabi did not change the pricing of their books. It has been a month since they started reviewing prices to adjust accordingly. 

“I understand the behind-the-scenes of big libraries as they are importing many books from abroad, so of course they’ll need to preserve their prices in dollars,” empathized Lana. Halabi will probably increase their prices by a small margin, as Lana stated that a 10,000LL book would never sell for 70,000LL at their shop.

“Right now, I can’t even afford to get the iconic Halabi paper bookmarks, so I’m going for stickers that hold our contact information for people to keep,” compromised Lana. No business wants to reach a place of suffering, and thankfully Halabi bookshop is doing better. Their current struggles right now are paying their due deposits, revamping their system’s database, and cutting costs. 

“Once, I noticed I was selling a book that costs 5,000LL only to place it inside a paper bag that costs 500LL,” said Lana. Although having an independent bookshop can be demanding, Lana reaps the rewards by molding it into a passion project.

“We are an independent bookshop. ‘Bookstore’ is a term used to describe a retail store that commodifies books. An independent bookshop is in its essence a place of gathering and cultural exchange, and that represents us much better,” praised Lana. 

Halabi Bookshop is a rarity, as most competing institutions in the literary industry are either the mainstream/chain stationery and books stores, or the often unknown, small shops with no specific identity, initiated by collectors. Halabi has been around for almost five years, with a strong sense of purpose, through Lana’s determination to influence and share the impact of literature with the community. 

“A lot of people had judgmental reactions at first where they belittled the fact that I was leaving my job to open a bookstore, often saying with a smirk ‘do people still read?’” she recounts.

Lana stresses on the satisfaction that comes from every returning visitor and the homely influence the bookstore has in the neighborhood. 

“People have told me that in a lot of business and entrepreneurship seminars, there is talk about impact and influence. But, when you sense it, it has a different essence,” deduced Lana. Halabi is surviving through its community and dedication, trying to find new opportunities to grow and continue.

As we approach the end of our conversation, she recounts a story to me:

Once, during lockdown, Lana received a phone call from the aunt of a kid that usually attends the bookstore’s reading circles. She was joyfully sharing with her how he wouldn’t stop retelling one of the stories they read before. There are traces of hope in what we choose to hang onto, be it through repeating that story about ants, like a prayer for better days, or a little bookshop with red frames in Tarik el Jdeede, surviving the country’s turmoil.