Sharjah: An agreement was signed on Wednesday at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) to purchase books worth Dh25 million from 15 UAE-based publishers to support the country’s reading initiatives and publishing industry, announced Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future and secretary-general of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI).
The MBRGI inked the deal with the publishers on the sidelines of the 35th edition of SIBF at Expo Centre Sharjah. Present during the signing ceremony was Ahmad Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, chairman of Sharjah Book Authority, the organiser of SIBF.
The agreement will support initiatives such as the Arab Reading Challenge, whose first edition successfully concluded in October. Since the launch of the challenge in September 2015, 3.65 million students from 30,000 schools in 15 countries across the Arab world each read and summarised at least 50 books, collectively reading more than 150 million books.
It also comes in line with 2016 as The Year of Reading initiative that has supported and promoted reading habits across the UAE.
Though the agreement has been made in the UAE initially, the broader aim is to support a publishing and reading movement across the Arab world, especially with regard to youth and students.
It is understood the book purchases will include original publications as well as republished and translated works. The books will be mostly disturbed to school libraries in the UAE and abroad, among other establishments.
‘Sustainable reading’
Publishers welcomed Wednesday’s agreement, saying it will encourage the spread of knowledge through books.
Dr Ghiath Maktabi, general manager of Sharjah-based Dar Al Maktabi publishing house, said the idea behind such agreements and initiatives is to sustain the momentum of reading.
“As a local company, we are looking at ‘sustainable readers’ who will develop a lifelong habit of reading. Yes, the latest agreement has started in the UAE but the aim is to also spread knowledge to all parts of the Arab world. This is something we look forward to and today’s agreement is of tremendous support towards the goal. We are honoured to be a part of this,” Dr Maktabi said.
Library Association
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, Al Ameri revealed, “We are working now to establish a UAE library association that will see the light of day very soon.” His comments came during the opening address at the first day of the third annual Library Conference on the sidelines of the SIBF, a two-day event organised by SIBF in partnership with the American Library Association.
The 11-day SIBF ends on Saturday. It features 1.5 million books from 1,680 publishers from 60 countries, including 88,000 new titles. There are also hundreds of cultural activities, cookery programmes and children’s events. Also participating are world-renowned authors, celebrities and intellectuals from the Arab world, Western countries and the Indian continent, among other places.
More information is available on the SIBF website, www.sibf.com.