From 1940 Storefront to Modern Literary Trade
Jordan’s capital city recently hosted the 25th edition of the Amman International Book Fair, marking its silver jubilee with a cultural event that brought together international publishing houses, writers, and readers under one roof.
This year’s milestone exhibition served as a stark reminder of how much Jordan’s literary landscape has evolved over the decades. The fair highlighted a legacy that traces back more than eighty years to June 1940, when the foundation for the region’s book and stationery industry was first laid in downtown Amman.
The historical journey began with Hassan Rashid Khalaf Al-Tabishat, a native of Irbid. Who gained fifteen years of extensive experience in printing, journalism, and paper making at a large press in Haifa’s Independence Square. Following his arrest and deportation by British Mandate authorities in 1940 due to his anti-Mandate political activism, Al-Tabishat returned to Jordan. In June of the same year, he opened a small library at the beginning of Price Muhammad Street, naming it ‘Al-istiqlal Library’ in honour of his time in Haifa.
What started as a modest storefront opposite the old post office building eventually grew into one of the most vital cultural and educational landmarks in Jordan and the wide region. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the establishment expanded beyond selling notebooks and pens to play an important role in printing and distributing over one hundred school titles written by prominent Jordanian educators.
The organisers of the successfully concluded book fair noted that the vast difference between that initial small library and the current massive cultural celebration remains deeply connected by ink and paper, proving that a harsh historical deportation ultimately opened wider windows for Jordanian knowledge.
