Contact: Laurie Kassman, Communications Department 202-785-5336

The Middle East Institute’s George Camp Keiser Library announces the generous donation by Dr. Fahim Qubain from his personal library. The collection, almost completely in Arabic, numbers well over one thousand volumes. It boasts hard-to-find items from the Arab world collected by Dr. Qubain during his many travels to the region. Subjects of note include important ethnographic material from Iraq, key PLO documents, historical and religious works about Arab Christians and critical political publications on Pan-Arabism from Egypt.

Dr. Fahim Qubain was born in Trans-Jordan and immigrated to the United States in 1946. He received a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Wisconsin. A prolific scholar, Dr. Qubain worked for Yale University, the Middle East Institute and the Department of Defense.

The George Camp Keiser Library has the largest collection of English materials on the Middle East in the Washington area, outside the Library of Congress. The collection numbers more than 25,000 books in Western languages and more than 300 periodicals, CDs and DVDs. The Library specializes in current events, history, culture, economics, religion, politics and languages of the Middle East. Use of the George Camp Keiser Library is open to the public. All visitors are granted free wireless access. Full members of MEI may borrow books.

"Librarian Simon Braune and President Wendy Chamberlin thank Dr. and Mrs. Fahim Qubain for their support." (photo credit: Ari Gore)

Since 1946, the Middle East Institute has been dedicated to increasing Americans’ knowledge and understanding of the region. MEI offers program activities, media outreach, language courses, scholars and an academic journal to help achieve its goals. For additional information please visit www.mideasti.org.