The reading bug is sweeping Emirates

DUBAI // By the end of the year, more than 70 per cent of the UAE population is expected to have picked up a book as part of the nationwide campaign to encourage reading.

For the Year of Reading, 100 government organisations set up more than 340 initiatives.

Sharifa Mousa, manager of the reading project at the Ministry of Education, said literacy was now part of the evaluation criteria for all schools.

“Reading is very important, not just in schools, but wider society,” she said. “This skill helps to provide a foundation for life and plays a key role in the success of an individual.”

The campaign has led federal and local government entities to come up with ideas.

Programmes ranged from Read a Story with a Star, where a well-known figure reads to children, to bookshelves at Abu Dhabi Airport for passengers.

The Ministry of Education worked with teachers to develop their skills so they would encourage more pupils to read.

As part of this, thousands of books were delivered to schools and there are plans to expand school libraries. The Ministry of Health developed an electronic library stocked with the latest health and medical publications and journals.

It also provided UAE Arabic children’s book publisher Kalimat with Dh1 million to pay for 5,000 bags containing five Arabic books for one-year-olds.

Among the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development projects is the UAE Reading Club with its year-long courses and workshops.

The UAE Digital Library will collect Arabic books and provide digital versions online.

Many schemes were implemented at a local level.

"Our aim is to make reading a habit for people young and old," said Abdul Rahim Al Batih, head of international relations at Abu Dhabi Media, publisher of The National. "These programmes are for locals and non-locals alike and by making it easier to pick up a book, it is a habit that is more likely to stick.

“Our target is that, by the end of this year, at least 70 per cent of the population will have started reading regularly.”

The Abu Dhabi Reads campaign organised by Abu Dhabi Education Council promoted reading skills among school pupils and adults.

In Dubai, the largest library in the Arab world will be established through the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library next year.

The Fujairah Foundation of Natural Resources launched Tourist’s Reading to introduce visitors to the UAE’s history and tradition, one of dozens of projects in the emirate.

In Umm Al Quwain, projects included mobile book carts in hospitals and medical centres.

Among the highlights in Ras Al Khaimah were book fairs and collaborations with the Union of Writers.

Ajman hosted library corners in cafes and My Family Reads story readings for the children of employees in the free zone.