AL-WAHDA, Gaza Strip — The Israeli blockade that has gripped the Gaza Strip for eight years now is a major obstacle to public libraries, preventing them from modernizing their bookshelves and displaying new products from international publishers.

Few people frequent libraries in Gaza when school is in session compared with the summer and winter vacations, since students are bound to a heavy curriculum and are preoccupied with exams and school duties. It should be noted that the Ministry of Education had tried on numerous occasions to modify the school curriculum and develop it in line with Palestinian students' situations and circumstances.

Al-Monitor visited some libraries and found them empty, with only a few children playing in the courtyards. Aseel Alian, 13, sat reading a story on one of the couches in the Qattan Center for the Child on al-Wahda Street in central Gaza City. She said she tries to balance her busy schedule between her studies and her reading hobby. She confirmed that her parents encourage her to read, pointing out that reading expands her intellect and develops her imagination.

Her friend Hiam Barghout, also 13, has been coming to the library for only a few months. She explained to Al-Monitor that she tries to visit the library from time to time to read novels that she likes and that are not available in her school library.