Monday, Aug 25, 2014
Sharjah: Each Emirati home in Sharjah is expected to have a library of at least 50 books by 2018.
Aiming to instil the culture of reading in every family, The Knowledge Without Borders initiative has given 12,772 families across the emirate a library of books in the Arabic language during its first 11 phases.
The 2008 project aims to reach its goal of 42,000 Emirati families by the end of phase 13.
Rashid Al Kous, general manager of the initiative, told Gulf News in an exclusive interview that he believes that the project will have a ripple effect that will become visible in the society.
“The campaign seeks to preserve the Islamic identity and Arabic language through books that concentrate on the Emirati culture and Arabic and Islamic principles,” he explained.
“We believe that instilling these values at the core unit of the society — the family — will ripple across the community at large.”
Limited not only to children, the initiative is also targeting adults by providing each family with 50 titles in Arabic covering a variety of genres and interests for different age groups. Topics include religion, science and health and cookery, as well as fictional novels and children’s stories.
“The books have been selected with care [by a panel of specialists] to cater to every segment of the home, taking age and educational background into consideration,” explained Al Kous.
In its twelfth phase, the campaign is distributing books in the Al Dhaid area with the city of Sharjah as its next stop.
Emirati families living in remote villages within the areas of Sharjah such as Shais village and Nahwa village were among the first to benefit from the government-led initiative.
So far, the campaign has visited homes in areas including Khor Fakkan, Kalba, Dibba Al Hisn, Al Mulaiha, Al Madam, Al Hamriya, Shais, Wadi Al Helo, Al Nahwa, Al Saja’a and Nazwa. The final phase of the project will include the city of Sharjah and its outskirts.
With a Dh150 million budget, the initiative is also contributing to enhancing Sharjah’s reputation as a cultural capital through organising poetry recitations, puppet and stage shows, dance performances, book donation drives and celebrity reading events. The first celebrity reading was held by local racing legend Mohammad Bin Sulayem, who visited the American International School in Sharjah.
By Jumana Khamis Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
