The perceived role of the mosque library in Upper Egypt as an Islamic information institution

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived role of the mosque library in Upper Egypt as an Islamic information institution. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative approach in the form of a structured interview, which was carried out between July and August of 2020. As possible, the researcher surveyed all mosques in Upper Egypt equipped with libraries ( n = 57). Findings The most important collections of the mosque library were found to be books, rare books, Qur’anic interpretations, jurisprudential volumes, hadiths of the Prophet, biographies, orientalist books, references, manuscripts and bibliographies. The services provided are developing awareness, lending, indexing and abstracting. The activities practiced are hosting school students to visit the library, holding educational seminars and hosting scholars and thinkers. The lack of specialized classification schemes in organizing Islamic subjects, lack of financial allocations, failure to update collections and lack of digital technology were found to be significant challenges faced by mosque libraries in Upper Egypt. Originality/value The role of the mosque library extended to enhance the religious background of the worshipers and provide them with different and appropriate sources of information, not only regarding the Islamic religion but also regarding knowledge and other topics.