Amman’s Book Garden: Connecting People and Books

Written by Harper Schrader, (Kalamazoo College), Student Correspondent for CET Jordan, Fall 2024

When you’re exploring Amman, Rainbow Street is a bucket list stop. Whether it’s for the charming shops, the lively Friday market to practice your bargaining skills or the stunning views, this iconic street has something for everyone—day or night. CET Jordan emphasizes how friendly and welcoming Jordan’s people are, which enhances your experience even further. Take advantage of this hospitality by striking up conversations with anyone you meet. You never know what you might learn!

A perfect example of this warm hospitality can be found on Rainbow Street itself: a pastel yellow car filled with books, parked under the rainbow lanterns. This vibrant and inviting sight is not only a unique feature of the street, but also a reflection of the friendliness that CET highlights. Ghaith Bahdousheh, embodies this welcoming spirit, often engaging with visitors and sharing his passion for books.

He welcomed my friends and me with his warm smile. I watched as he talked with the same enthusiasm to multiple families and couples at once about what book would be right for them. The amount of books he had were overflowing, with piles in the car and on top. Every inch of the pastel yellow car was covered.

As he began telling me why he started selling books, a young boy eagerly approaches him, asking if he had enough money to buy the book he wanted. The joy spread to everyone standing around, a testament to the warm, welcoming atmosphere Ghaith creates.

Ghaith didn’t always set out to sell books from his car, which now has grown to a book shop as well. He originally started in the corporate world. Ghaith left nine years ago wanting to change his life dramatically. He found that in order to buy books, he would have to drive the 40km from his town Madaba to Amman. Realizing that others in his community likely faced the same challenges in accessing books, he aimed to open the first and only bookshop in his town.

“I was buying books actually from a bookshop downtown, and I was like—bookshop! Madaba! Bummmm! It was a bell and a light bulb together. And I am back on this journey. I was convinced that this was my calling. Nine years later…I’m here.”

As a way to finance his idea of opening a bookshop, he decided to sell books on the street to promote reading within his community. So, in 2016, he took his car and started putting books on his car. He would drive around Amman between a few locations to promote exposure and access to books and culture.

He was able to finance his dream this way, and ten months later, opened his first bookshop, Kawon Bookstore, in 2016, with the instrumental support of his community, and stopped selling books on the street in 2017. “I raised enough money, and people donated huge amounts of books as well. The queen visited me in my bookshop in 2019. She also gave me an honorary grant to finish up my project: Build a study area, computer access, internet access, all that stuff.”

Now, his bookshop and mission have expanded from his car to including the recognition of 20,000 books, a café, a garden, and a vegan/vegetarian kitchen.

After seven years of not being present on the streets, he came back to the streets to break the barriers between people and books. In the past, he used to roam around Amman between a few locations, but since he came back in 2024, he decided to fix the position of the car to be at the corner of Fatari Restaurant. “Right here under the tree because it looks like a book garden.”

The car remains parked on the corner most of the time, except when it is moved to participate in a festival. Ghaith attracts children, families, and people of all kinds, continually working to expand the community he initially built around promoting a reading culture.

So, whether you’re visiting Rainbow Street for the shops or the breathtaking views, don’t miss the chance to have a conversation with Ghaith and learn more about his mission. His vision goes beyond just selling books—it’s about fostering connection. As Ghaith puts it… “Here, books have 100% exposure, and people have 100% exposure to each other, so they promote each other.”