Kingdom of Bahrain Facts Government type : constitutional monarchy & Bicameral Legislature (National Assembly) Religion : Majority Muslim (70% Shiite,

Kingdom of Bahrain FactsGovernment type : constitutional monarchy & Bicameral Legislature (National Assembly)

Religion : Majority Muslim (70% Shiite, 30%Sunni), Christian, Jewish , Bahai (NationalAssembly)

Literacy rate: 89% (2003 est.)

Language: Arabic (official), Persian, Urdu &English is widely spoken

Population : 718,306 note: includes 235,108 non-nationals (July 2008 est.)

History, People and CultureTylos , Dilmun and Awal (ancient name) Bahrain was referred to by the Greeks as the centre of pearl trading,

1738 was ruled by one Family the “Al-Khalifa”.

1932 oil has been discover in Bahrain

1971 Bahrain became independent from British protectorate

Bahrain PearlsBahrain Ceramics

Libraries in BahrainFirst public library 194612 Academic libraries9 Public libraries Managed by Ministry of

education250 Schools Learning Resource Centers5 Special Libraries & research LibrariesNew National Library that will be open in Dec

2008 Shaikh Isa National Library

Arabian Gulf University Library Library Automated System

( Horizon ) 40,000 volumes in Arabic &

English 15 Specialized Online Databases 400 Printed Journal Inter-Library Loan Services Online Reference Services

Challenges Faced by Libraries in Bahrain

The Need to established national consortium for the Academic Libraries in Bahrain

Lack of qualified academic LibrariansTraining & Development ( limitations )Undefined strategic planning for academic

LibrariesEncouraging the community to support fund

raising For Academic libraries