Youth-led Twitter campaign helps save book vendor’s business

AMMAN – A top trending hashtag in Jordan on social media helped a young bookseller in the northern city of Irbid keep his small business.  

On Tuesday, a hashtag in Arabic with a message: "bring back Shadi's stall" stormed Twitter with around 20,000 tweets as tweeps were pressuring the Municipality of Irbid not to remove the book stall of Shadi Abu Nasser, just outside the northern gate of Yarmouk University. 

The same hashtag also went viral on Facebook. 

The tweeps were mainly residents of Irbid city, some 80km north of Amman, and students of Yarmouk University, who in their posts and tweets described the young bookseller’s stall just outside campus as a fixture in their daily life. 

"He should be supported by the municipality as a success story instead of threatening to remove his stall," said Marwa Othman on her Facebook account. 

"We need a permanent kiosk for Shadi in order to enlighten people and encourage reading," Hasan Saqer wrote on Facebook. 

Ayah Alfawaris wrote that whenever the name Shadi is mentioned it reminds her of books. The book is her best friend, she added. 

Aroub Soubh (‏@bataleh) urged social media users in the Kingdom to tweet in support of Shadi "not because this would solve the problem but to try to make a difference to the life of someone".

"The street will not look good if the stall is removed," Aseel Haupsh (@aseel_haupsh) tweeted. 

Shadi, 25, is an English literature graduate who has been selling books at his stall for more than seven years.

In a phone interview with The Jordan Times Wednesday, he described himself as a bookworm before being a bookseller, adding that he also has a mission to encourage the youth to read and keep a relationship with books.

His story with books, according to him, started when he was 18 and was asked by his family to get rid of the “large number” of books he had. 

“I had two options at that time, either to take the books out of the house or they would have them burnt,” he recalled. 

“I had to take the books and display them on a stall for sale outside the university. I was shocked with the high demand for my merchandise,” he added.  

Now, he sells around 800 books a week, according to him. 

Shadi said that he also imports books from Beirut for his loyal customers, adding that visitors to his stall are Irbid’s elite intellectuals, academics and students. 

“I’m the youngest importer of books in Jordan with the best prices,” he said. 

On the problem with the municipality, Shadi said that officials warned him to remove the stall from the sidewalk because it violates regulations. 

The young bookseller said that he has been trying to obtain a licence for a kiosk for some six years to start his dream “Shadi Project”. 

His application was turned down every time he filed it. 

The Jordan Times tried to contact Irbid Mayor Hussein Bani Hani but he did not return the calls. 

However, an official at the municipality told The Jordan Times that Bani Hani met with Shadi on Wednesday in a bid to resolve the issue soon. 

The social media campaign to support Shadi was behind the meeting, said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.