About the center

The Senan Shaibani Cultural Center is a working research collection in Middle Eastern studies, assembled from several scholarly libraries and held at a single site in Lincoln, Texas, forty-five miles east of Austin.

The center exists to keep a body of material available to the people who need it. Much of what it holds — Arabic-language periodicals from the 1950s and 1960s, Arab American diaspora publications, runs of journals that ceased decades ago — survives in few other places in the United States, and in some cases nowhere else. Making it findable is the whole of the work.

Holdings are consultable on site by arrangement. The catalog is public, and currently describes 890 items; cataloging of the remaining collections is ongoing.

Senan Shaibani

Senan Shaibani devoted his life to education and cultural dialogue. His studies in Middle Eastern thought and his dedication to human rights shaped a vision of knowledge as both a right and a responsibility. Through his writing, teaching, and activism, Senan inspired those around him to see learning as a shared pursuit. This center continues his legacy by creating a space where ideas can meet, traditions can be explored, and new understanding can emerge.

The collections

The center's holdings come from three named collections, each reflecting the working library of the scholars who assembled it.

Rifʿat al-Saʿīd Library

Smaller in size, this library houses many of the journal collections, including a range of titles from Egypt as well as materials from the journalism collection.

Barbara Harlow Library

The main library, in the reading room. Dedicated to the late Barbara Harlow, a pivotal scholar whose work centered on women of the region, postcolonial thinking, and human rights activism. Many of the books come from her personal collection.

Dr. Tariq and Jacqueline Ismail Archives

Dedicated to Tariq and Jacqueline Ismail, distinguished scholars who worked out of Calgary and founded the International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies. Their personal library, with an extensive archive of Middle Eastern newspapers, posters, and memorabilia.

Cataloging

Records are created in Zotero against WorldCat, following a minimal-processing approach that preserves original order where possible. Each record carries shelf-level location, and Arabic titles are recorded in both Arabic script and romanized form where both are known.

Descriptive records are published under a CC BY 4.0 license and may be reused with attribution. The physical holdings they describe may remain in copyright.

The catalog is a work in progress and is corrected continually. Corrections and additions are welcome at contact@senanshaibaniculturalcenter.org.