A small library thrives in a Pakistani town known for guns, drugs and bombs

In the town Dara Adamkhel, guns and drugs are common but now Raj Mohammad, an academic and poet, has set up a small library which has over 500 members, AFP reports.

Dara Adamkhel is the main town in the Kohat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, known as the center of illegal arms trade where markets and stalls are stockpiled with pistols, automatic rifles, as well as various types of bullets.

The library is only a short walk away from the markets where books like Virginia Woolf’s “Mrs Dalloway”, as well as the YA “Twilight Saga” series are available for readers.

Raj Mohammad was at first pessmistic about the idea of starting a library, as he tells AFP that in a town notorious for gun violence, a library would have no place.
“Initially we were discouraged. People asked, ‘What is the use of books in a place like Darra Adamkhel? Who would ever read here?’

We now have more than 500 members,” he said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the lowest literacy rate among all of the provinces in Pakistan, which was reportedly 55 percent in 2020. A study compiled by Huma Zia Faran and Zohair Zaidi on the growing rates of children dropping out of school in 2021 found that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 60 per cent children had dropped out of school.

However, 33 year old volunteer librarian Shafiullah Afridi told AFP that more of the younger generation are interested in reading rather than engaging in the guns and drug business.

“Especially among the younger generation who are now interested in education instead of weapons.”

“When people see young people in their neighborhood becoming doctors and engineers, others also start sending their children to school,” he told the news outlet.

Despite the noise from gun testing and bombs raging outside, the librarians have ensured that they offer a quiet and peaceful environment within the library, enforcing a strict “no guns policy” as their members browse through the 4000 books in English, Urdu and Pashto. Along with popular fiction titles, the library has books on the history of Pakistan, guides for sitting the civil service exam and also selections on Islamic teachings.

“You could say we planted the library on a pile of weapons”, said Mohammad.

The story was originally covered by The New York Times in 2019.