The conference was co-organized by the UNESCO Office in Beirut, the Goethe Institute, the Lebanese Library Association and the Lebanese Board on Books for Young People. It aimed at promoting school libraries in Lebanon and the role they play in disseminating knowledge, raising awareness and promoting the concept of knowledge societies.

More than 70 participants attended the Conference, including school principals, teachers, officials from the Lebanese Ministries of Education and Culture, and library and information specialists from Germany, France and Lebanon.

Lebanese and German experts presented main issues of school librarian work from a national and international point of view and discussed trendsetting developments and models with a special relevance for the current situation in Lebanon.

George Awad, from the UNESCO Office in Beirut, stressed the work done by UNESCO's Communication and Information Sector to build libraries' capacity in order to transform them into truly information centres able to disseminate knowledge.

Abdel Moneim Osman, Director of the UNESCO Office in Beirut, said that UNESCO has always promoted school libraries as part and parcel of the education system to enhance curricula and to offer students fresh sources of knowledge and information.

Khaled Qabani, Lebanese Minister of Education, thanked the organizers for all their efforts in supporting school libraries and making them accessible to children in all levels, especially those from deprived communities.