Sheikh Sultan and Sheikha Bodour during their visit to the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival at Expo Centre. File / WAM

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah has directed the allocation of Dhs2.5 million for the buying of latest titles from participating publishers and booksellers at the ongoing 15th annual Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2024), to update and further enrich the Sharjah Public Library.

The annual grant is awarded to this Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) event to further His Highness’s vision to support the regional and global book industries, continually improve Sharjah’s offerings to readers, students, researchers and academics and general knowledge seekers in the UAE and beyond and affirm the role of libraries in achieving comprehensive and sustainable development of societies.

Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of SBA, said: “The generous grant from His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah not only supports publishers commercially and knowledge seekers in the UAE and Sharjah, educationally, but embodies a profound message.

The initiative underlines Sharjah’s belief that the realisation of both our present and future goals are dependent on how successfully we are able to foster an appreciation of books, knowledge and learning in our younger generations. The roots of development and our envisioned cultural growth are firmly secured in our libraries.”

She added: "Ensuring that ample sources of learning and intellectual development are easily accessible to all, particularly our children, is fundamental to Sharjah's developmental vision. Consequently, the emirate launches programmes and pours effort into making books available to everyone. These books form the foundation of our dialogues across cultures and civilisations.

Year after year, we witness the tangible outcomes of these initiatives in Sharjah — through our developmental projects, a well-informed community, a robust cultural fabric, enduring values, and our ongoing call for everyone to join us in shaping a vibrant present and forging a promising future."

The grant represents a renewed step to enrich the emirate's public and private libraries in various scientific and literary fields and all languages.

Introducing thousands of new titles annually to the libraries’ database bolsters Sharjah's global reputation as a city committed to fostering knowledge-based communities, promoting research and development, and invigorating the authorship landscape.