Children step on board mobile library

Abu Dhabi: Six-year-old Jude Haddad is keen to know what will happen to the ‘poor prince' whom she knew from a page of a book she read from the Kitab Bus, a mobile library.

"I will search for Puss in Boots [the book] in my school library to see what happens to the prince", Jude told Gulf News.

Jude's brother Khalid, who is eight years old, said, he will definitely try to get James and the Giant Peach to complete his brief reading of the book.

"I just read two pages of the book, but I will try to get that book", he said.

The children were speaking on the sidelines of the official opening of the German Week of the Kitab Bus at the Cultural Foundation premises in the capital on Wednesday evening.

Remote areas

Juma Al Qubaisi, Director of the Abu Dhabi National Library, and Klaus-Peter Brandes, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany and Wolfgang Amadeus Bruelhart, the Swiss Ambassador to the UAE were present on the occasion.

Kitab Bus, the mobile library on a bus, was launched to ensure that all parts of the Abu Dhabi community have access to books and reading.

The bus started its journey from Al Ain on October 4. It has hundreds of books, both Arabic and English, including fiction and non-fiction titles, chosen with readers of all ages in mind.

The book lovers were participating in storytelling sessions, meeting authors and reading their favourite books on board.

The bus has been touring primary schools and public places in Abu Dhabi. The response was overwhelming, Al Qubaisi told Gulf News.

He thanked the German and Swiss Embassies and the Goethe-Institute for their cooperation with the initiative. The bus will be touring remote areas in Al Gharbia [Western Region] where people do not have a great deal of access to books, he added.

Noorlyn, a five-year-old girl, was too busy with her drawing to talk at the ‘drawing corner' arranged by the organisers.

"She was excited to receive a book as a gift from the Swiss Ambassador whom she presented her drawing to," said Najwa Kortbaoui, her mother.

She said her two children have made reading a habit and every day they read something before going to sleep.

"They were excited to see the Kitab bus when we came to the children's library at the Cultural Foundation", she said.

Neema Shetty, an Australian homemaker on a visit to Abu Dhabi said her three-and-half-year old son was fascinated to see the bus full of books.

"The concept is nice as it reaches book lovers in remote areas", she said.