Why books still matter in a world of endless scrolling, and a thank you to Sharjah

Since I was a young boy, I’ve used reading to transport myself into different worlds, to learn the unimaginable and to understand different views.

Books are at the centre of all learning, of all civilisations. These small and portable time machines allow us to pass on knowledge, ideas and creativity from generation to generation. But are screens taking over?

That’s why I was particularly delighted to be invited to be part of a Sharjah delegation to Poland, where the emirate was Guest of Honour at the Warsaw Book Festival. Sharjah knows the power of the written word and shouts about it all over the world.

Hopefully you have seen the extensive Gulf News coverage from the four-day event, particularly the many photos and videos of people across the country’s capital being mesmerised and intrigued by the UAE’s offerings. It was impressive.

Sharjah plays an incredible role globally in promoting reading, literature, history and accessibility. While video, particularly short videos, seems to be taking over the world, ensuring children can access books is more important than ever.

 This is one of the reasons we put an inspiring photo of Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi giving an Arabic library to children in Poland on the front page of the newspaper on Tuesday.

Along with recognising the importance of books in bringing cultures together, we wanted to celebrate the values that they can help deliver in a fraught and testing world. Reading books puts you into the mind and shoes of other people, which opens up new worlds.

Sheikha Bodour’s opening address at the fair captured that spirit perfectly: “Civilisations do not have to resemble one another to understand one another. They only need to approach each other with patience, curiosity and empathy.”

We all know that this world can often feel divided, so having leaders talk about celebrating our differences is vital and timely. Layering that with the importance of reading is even more powerful.

It is also a reminder that leadership is not about being the loudest voice in the room. It is about creating understanding, inspiring others and opening doors. I’d like to think I follow those values as much as I can day-to-day - but we all have our moments!

Inspiring stories like this are the stories that deserve to lead the news, but it’s a real battle for space with so much going on. I hope we see leaders such as Sheikha Bodour on more front pages around the world, and more children picking up a book out of curiosity.

Readers of this column will already know I am a huge football fan. We will be hearing ‘soccer’ a lot over the coming weeks, but it’s always football. After wallowing in self-pity for the last couple of weeks after Middlesbrough blew their chance to make it to the Premier League, my hope has transferred to another team that always offers so much and delivers so little: England.

The World Cup kicks off in a red-hot Mexico on Thursday, with games also taking place in the USA and Canada. There are a staggering 48 teams playing across 16 cities. They say America always does things big, but this may have taken things a little too far.

Despite my trepidations about the heat, kick-off times, length of the tournament and there being far too many teams, I will get ridiculously excited along with my boys as soon as that first whistle goes.

At Gulf News, we know that covering live football isn’t our thing. TV networks and sports websites around the world will do a fine job of that. However, we know we can do one thing very well right here in the UAE: fun.

Sport is entertainment and we’ll be going big on all of the things away from the pitch. We already have our simulator live on gulfnews.com - go and give it a try and share it with your friends. We have the irrepressible Rob and Shamseer hosting a podcast with professional footballers based here in the UAE (the first one will be live at the start of next week). We will have talking points and short videos over the coming weeks, along with many other bits and pieces as we get deep into the tournament.

We also have a bit of a surprise to come soon. I’m not giving that away just yet but I think you’ll love it. Please do get involved, have some fun and share any ideas you have for our sports coverage with me.

Oh, and I have done the simulator… England to win it? No. More disappointment there. My wildcard prediction: Norway. I’ve always loved an underdog.