Library Makeover Part I
This morning I went to the Dar Al Huda mosque http://www.daralhudamasjid.org/ to clean up the library. I brought my daughter along and I tried to give her some books to look at and snacks (fruits + juice) to keep her from getting cranky. I've also brought some books that husband and I no longer read to the library. The library was previously used for computer classes, so there are about 9-10 computers that take up two sides of the wall in the room. There was a pile of books kept in a box, with a 21" computer monitor stacked on top of them, at a corner. All praise be to Allah SWT two metal shelves are already set up in the room, so I stacked the books neatly on the shelves.
The most surprising find in the storage cabinet is a bunch of Christianity materials previously used by a sunday school. I have no idea how they end up here, but I'm really interested to find out. Christians and Jews are considered to be People of the Book as "they recognize the God of Abraham as the one and only god, as the Muslims do, and they practice revealed faiths based on Divine ordinances, tolerance and autonomy is accorded to them in societies governed by Sharia (Islamic divine law)". (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_the_Book) Anyway, I put them aside so that I can remind myself to ask the Islamic weekend school principal about it.
Last night it occurred to me that the mosque can also function as a community learning center apart from a place of worship. So I asked husband about it and he confirmed that this is the case for the mosque in Cambodia. He said he practically grew up in the mosque and every community activity takes place in the mosque. With this in mind, I have a plan. Allah SWT willing, I intend to make myself available to the community as the mosque's Resident Librarian. Whoever has a question about anything e.g. how to repair cars, how to file taxes, how to repair a roof etc. can come to me and I will try to provide the answers. Praise be to Allah SWT since I have the education background and experience, I should provide a service that can benefit the community. This will also help me to keep up with the field of librarianship.
Now the only problem is how to keep my daughter busy while I'm "working" in the library.
The most surprising find in the storage cabinet is a bunch of Christianity materials previously used by a sunday school. I have no idea how they end up here, but I'm really interested to find out. Christians and Jews are considered to be People of the Book as "they recognize the God of Abraham as the one and only god, as the Muslims do, and they practice revealed faiths based on Divine ordinances, tolerance and autonomy is accorded to them in societies governed by Sharia (Islamic divine law)". (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_the_Book) Anyway, I put them aside so that I can remind myself to ask the Islamic weekend school principal about it.
Last night it occurred to me that the mosque can also function as a community learning center apart from a place of worship. So I asked husband about it and he confirmed that this is the case for the mosque in Cambodia. He said he practically grew up in the mosque and every community activity takes place in the mosque. With this in mind, I have a plan. Allah SWT willing, I intend to make myself available to the community as the mosque's Resident Librarian. Whoever has a question about anything e.g. how to repair cars, how to file taxes, how to repair a roof etc. can come to me and I will try to provide the answers. Praise be to Allah SWT since I have the education background and experience, I should provide a service that can benefit the community. This will also help me to keep up with the field of librarianship.
Now the only problem is how to keep my daughter busy while I'm "working" in the library.
posted by Jiru at
3:45 PM
