The House of Books

On Saturday we organized an outing to the Maison de Livre, a bookstore located just outside of downtown Conakry on the south side of the peninsula. We had seen this store a couple of times on trips around town, and after several days of trying we finally found time to make a visit there. Moussa, one of our security guards, drove three members of our group there.

The idea of a bookstore may seem a little strange in Conakry. First of all, this is a society with a strong oral tradition, including in its several native languages which persist today, and the efforts of the French to impose a modern educational system were resisted, so that Guinea remains largely a country where most people do not read. Second, there just aren’t that many businesses that look much like what an American would consider a “shop,” by which I mean an enclosed location with attendants, a counter, a cash register, etc. Most businesses in Conakry, especially outside of the small downtown area, are open-air – they either consist of a tent or just a blanket on the ground, or are in a building but open directly to the street with no doors or windows.

We drove to the bookstore in Moussa’s car, parked in the small lot in front, and opened the glass door to the nicely air conditioned interior. It looked like any small bookstore in the states – the walls were lined with shelves and filled with books, there were tables and stands around with featured items, and there was a spiral staircase in the center that led to an upstairs room that consisted mostly of children’s books. Each shelf was labeled with a topic, and to the right of the door there was a counter, and towards the rear of the store on the right-hand side were stationery-type items.

We browsed around, each looking for books in our own interests. Even the idea of “browsing” seemed strange in Guinea, as shopping here often consists of fending off several vendors, all of whom are pushing items in your face at the same time. The books were almost all in French, and consisted of a lot of literature, some self-help books, and some technical titles. Most of the items represented Europe much more than Africa, and disappointingly, there was very little about Guinea in the store. There were a few travel guide type books, and I looked at one that had a good amount of information about the country, and lots of photos, but the price was over Gf 200,000, roughly $45 in American currency, and I decided against buying it.

There were a couple of attendants who were helpful in finding items, although they didn’t really have the items we were looking for. Still, this was an interesting cultural experience, a nice excursion into a different side of Guinea than we see on a daily basis.