Noha Barakat, CEO of Barakat for Bookstores: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Noha Barakat, CEO of Barakat for Bookstores.

My name is Noha Barakat and I am the CEO of Barakat for Bookstores and owner of Sheikh Zayed’s Bibliothek, which opened its doors in 2021. A few years after I ended my career in banking in 2014, my brother Amr proposed the idea of creating a cultural hub catering to the Sheikh Zayed community. Today, Bibliothek is divided into a bookstore and art gallery, both of which I am in charge of, and a cafe run by my sister-in-law.

A place for reading, browsing, and immersing: Customers can read or work in the cafe, browse the art gallery, or attend a book signing or talk at the store. We want to create a hub that targets people of a certain age who want to spend time in a quiet place — one of the reasons we have avoided stocking children’s books.

Our offering differs from other players in the market: We wanted Bibliothek to be comprehensive in its selection and offer works that are not available in the Egyptian market. We particularly saw a gap in the market for special interest books and coffee table books on business and economics, architecture, art, fashion, Egyptology, and more. At the moment, we only stock Arabic and English-language books, although we are looking to introduce French publications next year.

Books were a big part of my childhood: My father was an ambassador so we used to travel a lot. Any country we went to my parents would make sure that we always read and encouraged us to use our pocket money to buy books. When you go to a new country, you know no one, so you take your books with you.

People still love to read: We see that Egyptians are looking to read books that they can actually buy, keep on their shelves, and turn the pages of, not just use Kindles. That said, we will be potentially introducing e-books in 2024.

Arab writers are flying off the shelves: In the past, classical works by authors like Naguib Mahfouz and Taha Hussein have largely driven sales of Egyptian writers. Yet, over the last 15 years we have started to see a rise of a younger generation of writers, many of which are women — writers such as Jawary El Ishq author Rasha Samir, Blue Aubergine author Miral Al Tahawy, and Language and Identity in Modern Egypt author Reem Bassiouney. Many of these writers have successful careers as professors or as journalists and I think we are now seeing them turn to literature in order to pass their knowledge onto the next generation.

My everyday role is to make sure that we’re always on top of things and curating an innovative selection of books: Our collection is guided by our customers as we realize what they find most interesting and accommodate that. I spend my days managing the finances for the store and the gallery, meeting with my staff to discuss new trends and ideas, or on the shop floor interacting with customers.

There’s a lot planned for 2024: Much of my time is currently occupied with our new store inTagamoa, which will hopefully open by 1Q 2024. We have also got our website up and running, which contains all our previous exhibition information and current publications for sale, and we’re looking into launching e-commerce operations next year.

Before I head into the office, I always like to have my breakfast and catch up on what’s happening in the world, including via Enterprise — which I have been receiving for many, many years. On my way home in the evenings, I have a book with me or try to keep myself updated on the art market and what other galleries are doing in Egypt.

I absolutely enjoy every day of my life: I challenge myself to learn more about art, so I visit galleries in Downtown and Zamalek, cultural events at Rawabet TheatFor a longer read, I would recommend Omar Taher’s TheIndustrialists of Egypt. I also enjoyed Maximum Speed Zero by Ashraf Ashmawi, who is hosting a book talk at Bibliothek on Saturday, 9 December.

The best advice I’ve ever received was from my father: He taught me that “when you give, give 100%, don’t cut corners and don’t compromise on your work because good things always come out of hard work.”

**On the calendar: Bibliothek will be at the Cairo Art Book Fair today, Thursday, 7 December, where it will be showcasing special edition artworks from five female Egyptian artists.

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