Knowledge without Borders to Purchase 80,000 books from Sharjah International Book Fair
The Sharjah-based pioneering cultural project ‘Knowledge without Borders’ has announced plans to purchase 80,000 Arabic books from publishers participating in the 33rd edition of Sharjah International Book Fair, to be held at Sharjah Expo Centre between November 5 and 15, 2014.
The decision was made during a meeting for the Books Selection Committee at Knowledge Without Borders, headed by Rashid Al Kous, General Manager of Knowledge Without Borders, and attended by project members Dr Ahmed Al Saghair, Professor of Education at Sharjah University, Alammari Awad, Warehouse Coordinator, Hessa Alratouq, Designer, Ayman Alsamarrai, Administrative Assistant at Al Qasimi Publications, and Mustafa Jawish, Sales Coordinator at Al Qasimi Publications.
Announcing the project's plan to purchase 80,000 Arabic books from various publishers this year, Al Kous affirmed the careful selection of books to be purchased, in line with the project's book selection standards, which focus on content quality, appeal to readers, and abidance by intellectual property laws and regulations. Al Kous also indicated that these books would be distributed to families residing in Sharjah during the last stage of the home library project starting at the beginning of next year, and including around 13 thousand Emirati families.
Al Kous outlined Knowledge without Borders' participation at SIBF, highlighting the various activities planned by the project, all aimed at instilling a love of reading and facilitating access to books for all social segments. "The Sharjah International Book Fair is the largest cultural event in the UAE, especially this year, with 1256 publishers from 59 countries in the world taking part in the 33rd edition this November. Our plan is to take advantage of the presence of this many publishers in our Emirate to acquire a wide selection of titles in various domains, aiming at helping Knowledge Without Borders' targeted audience get access to high quality content." Knowledge Without Borders' stand at SIBF will introduce fair visitors to the project's efforts in instilling the culture of reading, and the activities done in this context, such as providing Emirati families with home libraries, the Moving Library Initiative, and book carts at hospitals. The project will also carry on with its ‘Faces’ initiative, where booth visitors get their photos taken with a phrase of their choice encouraging reading. This initiative aims at documenting visits by various dignitaries and the public to the booth.
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