Sharjah Public Library introduces pop-up initiative for book lovers

Sharjah: Adding to its list of achievements, the Sharjah Public Library (SPL), a subsidiary of Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), has launched the ‘Pop-Up Library’ initiative to make books available to readers whenever and wherever they require by converting their device into an e-reader.

The move aligns with the Sharjah World Book Capital 2019 objectives to promote the UAE community’s reading habit and love for books and culture.

SPL’s Pop-Up Library initiative will utilise a programme specially developed by Baker and Taylor, a Follett company, to ensure fast and easy access to e-books. Pop-Up libraries are essentially mobile hotspots that allow users to access only one website: the associated library’s e-book collection. Once users have connected to the hotspot and accessed the website through a URL indicated on a poster, they can download an e-book directly from their browser.

SPL is sponsoring this initiative and it will be available to the public free of cost.

Posters and ‘how-to’ instructions will be provided to guide users to help browse e-books available to borrow and read immediately. Books will open instantly in the device’s browser, without downloading an app or a library card, and can be saved to read offline for the duration of the loan, which is 15 – 21 days. Initially, 624 titles will be available under the following categories: Adult Nonfiction; Adult Fiction; Children; and Teens.

SPL will collaborate with community partners, businesses, government offices and other entities to make this initiative available across their locations to get the community reading.

Eman Bushulaibi, Director of SPL, underscored that the launching of the Pop-Up Library initiative aims to harness technologies to further the thriving cultural environment in Sharjah and the UAE by providing reading material to community members round the clock, and accessible from any location.