In 1950s and 1960s, the Danish Missionary Society (DMS), based in Copenhagen, was operating, among other things, a bookshop in Aden, Yemen.

In Oct 1966, however, due to political instability, DMS had to close operations in Yemen.

But, after discussions with Reformed Church in America (RCA) which was running the American Mission Hospital in Bahrain, it was decided that the bookshop will move to Bahrain.

So, in 1967, the Danish bookseller Jorgen ‘Jan’ Pedersen started the ‘General Bookshop’, which later became the ‘Public Bookshop ‘and then renamed itself as the ‘Family Bookshop’.  

But, in a way, it just complemented and merged with an already existing bookshop, for Bibles and other books, which was first started in 1890s by Samuel Zwemer.  

When Jan Pedersen opened bookshops in Kuwait and Oman also, by the same organizational agreement, the Family Bookshop Group (FBG) was formed as a limited liability company in Lebanon (in June 1974) to manage all these outlets.

Like in other places, Bahrain’s ‘Family Bookshop’ became a great place for general books, magazines, newspapers and comic books, for Bahrain’s reading public, both expatriates and Bahrainis. 



Apart from in English and Arabic, books in a few other languages were also made available, which included Bibles and Christian Literature.

In Bahrain, it operated bookshops from in and around the hospital premises in Manama, the souq area in Bab Al Bahrain and also in Adliya.

For nearly 40 years, until the early 2000s, for Bahrain’s adults and children, this was an important window to the outside world.

Unfortunately, this literary window of Bahrain, to the outside world, closed in the early 2000s.

Family Bookshop with an earlier name in 1970