The library of the Institute for Palestine Studies was established at the same time as the Institute in 1963. It was set up with the aim of achieving some of the principal goals of the Institute for Palestine Studies: the preservation of Palestinian intellectual and cultural production, and the collection of documents and research on the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict in its various phases and developments.

Over the years, the Library has increased its acquisitions and expanded its role, to the point that it is now a unique resource for research and scholarship on the Palestinian cause. The library collections include a wide range of basic reference works, books, and periodicals, in Arabic, English, French, and Hebrew. The library's collection places a particular emphasis on Palestine, its population, history and society, as well on the political, social, military and economic aspects of Israel.In addition to monographs in a number of languages, the collection includes basic reference works, encyclopedias, yearbooks, bibliographies, official reports, dictionaries, atlases, and statistical surveys. The collection also includes rare books, including books issued by the British Mandate authorities in Palestine, volumes produced by the World Zionist Congresses, the official newspaper and rules and regulations issued by the mandatory government of Palestine.

The library occupies four storeys in the Institute for Palestine Studies headquarters in Beirut, and comprises over seventy-nine thousand volumes, in addition to hundreds of periodicals and newspapers. In 1984 a decision was taken by the Institute for Palestine Studies Board of Trustees to name the library in honor of Constantine Zurayk, one of the founders of The Institute for Palestine Studies and its honorary president for a quarter of a century, in gratitude for his years of service and scholarship. In 2006, the Center for Information and Documentation was founded and the Library became an integral part of the Center. Also connected to the Center is the website of the IPS and its digitized information which is designed to function within the framework of the Institute’s mission. Since its inception, the mission of the Center for Information and Documentation has been three-fold: to preserve the Palestinian cultural heritage, historical memory, and intellectual production;to monitor developments concerning the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict by collecting published material and performing archival work;to make all these resources accessible to the public in the most efficient way, using standardized library tools and information technology.

The acquisitions of the library have kept pace with the various developments in the Palestinian cause over the past 38 years. Its collection covers history, politics, economics, as well as social and military affairs; it extends chronologically from Palestine at the dawn of history to current global developments. Thousands of scholars, journalists, diplomats, and military personnel, of various nationalities, have visited the library's premises in Beirut. Some of the library's visitors travel great distances to make use of its unique collection.

In addition to providing direct services to its visitors, the library's staff also responds to a range of inquiries from scholars concerning sources of information and research tools. These services extend to scholars and researchers outside Lebanon, and include providing bibliographic information to students all over the Arab world, especially those without access to adequate scholarly resources, in Iraq, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, and elsewhere. In so doing, the Institute for Palestine Studies library regards itself as fulfilling a national mission that goes beyond the normal duties of a scholarly institution. The library also collects archival materials and documents related to the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, which are compiled and catalogued by the library staff and made available for consultation by scholars. Periodically, the library issues a list of its recent acquisitions, which can be viewed online. 

Since 1995, the library has become fully automated and its catalog was available electronically, thereby rendering the card catalog obsolete, using the library system OLIB. Starting in 2019 the library was converted to the Open Source system KOHA.

 

Contact Library
Beirut Library
Institute for Palestine Studies
Anis Nsouli Street, Verdun
Beirut, Lebanon
 
Phone: +961 1-80-49-59 ext. 128  
 

Ramallah Library
Institute for Palestine Studies
19 Emile Habibi Street, 4th flr. Al-Masion
Ramallah, Palestine
 
Phone: +970 2 29-89-108