Sharjah-based “Knowledge without Borders” (KWB) has purchased 80,000 books from publishers participating in the 34th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2015) to support the book and publishing industry and promote the culture of reading.The list of purchased books include 14,000 copies of books written by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah as well as 4,603 books on education, 3,228 on poetry and other topics including children's literature, science, culture, philosophy, politics, literature, technology, history, archaeology, nutrition, cooking, and other areas. The books will be distributed to Emirati families in Sharjah as part of the home library project, which seeks to equip every household with a range of books tailored to their interests.
The overall aim is instill a love of reading among the community, as well as help Emirati families establish home libraries by providing them with 50 titles across a range of genres. Rashid Al Kous, General Manager of Knowledge without Borders said the books will be distributed among citizens in the emirate soon.“Thanks to the support and vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, KWB bought 80,000 books on various subjects and in different languages from publishing houses that participated in the SIBF 2015. The move comes as part of our plans to provide Emirati citizens with scientific, literary and intellectual knowledge needed to build their cultural capacity and expand knowledge so that they become active contributors to the development process experienced by the UAE, and specifically by the emirate of Sharjah, in all areas,” said Al Kous.He added, “This also comes at a very important time for KwB as we announced lately the final results of a survey of Emirati citizens in Sharjah to determine how many benefited from the home library by establishing the percentage of readers in the emirate, the total number of families who have not yet got the home library and the number of families wishing to have the home library.
”The KWB stand at SIBF 2015, which concluded on Saturday at the Expo center, had a great response from the public particularly with the "Fingerprint" initiative, launched in conjunction with the UAE's Flag Day celebrations. The initiative was designed to enhance the meaning of unity and solidarity and consolidate the values of loyalty and allegiance to the country. Knowledge without Borders was launched as an initiative by His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and is supervised and supported by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Head of the Organizing Committee of KWB. The initiative aims to establish reading as a noble habit in every household in the UAE, by encouraging the establishment of home libraries, and supplying these libraries with best reads in various domains suitable for the entire family.