A sneak peek into QNL

The sweeping collection of Qatar National Library (QNL) is as indispensable to students, educators, researchers, and the community at large in Qatar, as it is overwhelming. Categorised into Main, Heritage, Children’s, Teen, and Arab Law, the vast collection can be accessed online if you register with QNL – it is free for all the residents of Qatar. “When the National Library opens, we will offer a wide variety of books in English and Arabic, including bestsellers, classics, and nonfiction,” QNL points out in a note on its collections. “We will also feature e-books, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, magazines, journals, and much more.” While we wait for the opening day, Community sifts through some of the interesting links to reader resources, online books, awards, and more, that are offered by QNL. AdabAvailable in both English and Arabic, this website features both classical and modern Arabic poetry. Al-WaraqThis Arabic resource offers a nice collection on Arab and Islamic heritage through famous Arabic works in different subject areas. Five useful websites are also listed. Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing This one helps you learn what books are available from this publisher based at the Qatar Foundation. Cornell University Library Middle East & Islamic Studies Collection Arabic LiteratureLinks to excellent resources regarding Arabic Literature, including poetry, classical literature, and fiction.  Fanoos Encyclopedia – Middle East AuthorsLearn more about well-known authors from the Middle East. Islamic BookThis resource, available in both Arabic and English, offers books in Islamic studies, history, and literature for online viewing or download. The collection includes books in more than 32 languages, including Arabic and English.  Kalimat This Arabic resource offers books on many subjects for download in ePub, PDF, and Kindle formats.  Online Books Page and Reading Group GuidesOnline Book Page lists over 1mn free books on the web, while Reading Group Guides is an online community for reading groups. International Children’s Digital LibraryFree access website for more than 4,649 illustrated books for online viewing in 61 languages. Kids.jo and SpacetoonWhile Kids.jo offers stories in different categories for online viewing, Spacetoon packs in more than a 100 highly illustrated stories for online viewing. Both are in Arabic. Aaron Shepard’s World of StoriesA neatly categorised collection of stories from around the world for online reading. The listings give the appropriate age for reading, length of the story, and origin. ArabohAraboh is an online children’s bookstore that sells quality Arabic materials handpicked for their interactive elements, fun storylines, and engaging content. It also has step-by-step advice on Arabic home-schooling, free downloadable resources, and parent discussion groups. Available in both Arabic and English. Baldwin Online Children’s Projects and Bedtime-Story While Baldwin’s has 520 classic children’s books in a variety of genres for online viewing, Bedtime-Story offers a large collection of illustrated books for online viewing. Some are classics and others are unique stories separated into unusual categories. Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s My Book This Arabic resource has a good collection of fiction, nonfiction, folktales, fairy tales, and fables for online viewing. Also it has books in different subjects like math, science, and history.Fable Library Offering an interesting and unique collection of children’s works, most are available for viewing online, including some flash versions, but a few are available for download.  Goodnight StoriesThis resource a nice little collection of unique children stories for reading online. A good number of the stories were written by children. Some other activities and printable colouring pages are also available. Gulf’s children This Arabic resource offers a good number of stories, folktales, fairy tales, and translated stories for download. Some stories focus on children with special needs. HarfKids.com This resource, available in both Arabic and English, has a nice collection of flash-animated song and audio read-a-long stories, prophets’ stories in Arabic and English. Games, songs, and Qur’an corner are also available. KindersiteOffer a good number of stories in flash for reading and listening online as well as lullabies, music and games for younger children. Online Audio StoriesThis has close to 100 audio stories for free listening. Most are short poems, but there are a few longer stories mixed in. Speakaboos This resource has about 100 books available for listening and viewing online through a flash viewer. Downloads are available for a fee, though some are available for free upon registration. They also have a play area with arts and crafts projects. ALA Teens’ Top Ten Books Check out the list of Top 10 books as voted on by teens across the country during Teen Read Week. The Hunger Games websiteVisit Scholastic’s official page for this popular series, and learn more about the author and her books as well as play games and watch videos.  Official Harry Potter and Official Stephenie Meyer websitesVisit J K Rowling’s website for all things Harry Potter, whereas Twilight fans can have their fill with lots of fun info about the author, her books, and the movies based on them on the Stephenie Meyer’s website. Randa Abdel-Fattah website Learn more about the Australian author of Does My Head Look Big in This and Ten Things I Hate About Me, two books about Muslim teens coping with life outside of their home countries.