Amid the Interest of its Audience from the Different

Segments of Society

The National Library and Archives Organizes more than 100 Events and Activities in the Reading Month

In line with the directions of our rational leadership for promoting the culture of science and knowledge, the National Library and Archives has prepared a program composed of more than 100 events to be organized during the reading month as reading is important in raising the cultural background of individuals and arming them with knowledge and as reading has  a great effect on the professional qualification of individuals by enhancing their positive awareness and providing sustainability to promoting knowledge which will lead to sustainable development in general.

The events were many and include educational program packages for the student audience, in addition to lectures for internal and external audience. These lectures deal with and encourage all types of reading. The events were designed to acquaint the audience with the Emirates Library and its holdings and reflect its role in the provision of the resources and references needed by the readers and researchers in the history and heritage of the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf region. The events highlight the importance of E-books and the experiences of the great writers in the fields of reading. Some of these events were concerned with archiving, documentation and the publications of the National Library and Archives.

The National Library and Archives organized an internal book exhibition at its headquarters, in which several libraries and publishing houses, most important of them were the University Library, Dar Al-Saada, Dar Al-Safa, and Kankoniya Library which participated with books and national and cultural publications that were highly perceived by the employees and visitors. In parallel to this exhibition, the National Library and Archives organized another exhibition of books which deal with reading, its importance and its role in building the individual and society and the role of the United Arab Emirates in encouraging reading. The books displayed are from the Emirates Library holdings and are available for viewing and borrowing.

On the importance of these events, His Excellency Abdulla Majed Al Ali, Acting Director-General of the National Library and Archives, said: “Preparations were taken early in order to enrich this month with an intensive program of events that are consistent with the slogan “UAE Reads”; we have provided all the requirements for these events, and each member of National Library and Archives knows his/her role in them. The National Library and Archives have prepared the event program for this month in an organized, coordinated and meticulous manner. The headquarters of the National Library and Archives became an arena for the events and the lectures that were presented virtually to the various segments of society, including the children and students of our staff members.”

He added: “Based on our role, which requires us to provide honest and documented information to the general public, the National Library and Archives has become like a beehive in which all experts, specialists and employees come to organize activities that would enrich the knowledge of the public inside and outside the National Library and Archives during the reading month. We have directed our events to the various segments of society and dedicated dozens of events, including national and cultural lectures and reading workshops to the publications of the National Library and Archives to be organized to the student audience with the aim of instilling the seeds of good citizenship in them, enhancing the sense of belonging to the homeland and loyalty to its wise leadership.”

His Excellency said: “The National Library and Archives provided its wide audience with cultural and national lectures; these lectures have offered them an additional knowledge background and encouraged them to adopt useful reading. These events opened the doors to the public and showed them the importance of the Emirates Library in the National Library and Archives with its specialized sources and references in the history and heritage of the UAE and the Gulf region, the importance of paper and electronic books and the publications by which the National Library and Archives and the Emirates Library enrich the cultural circles.”

His Excellency said that in line with the reading month, the National Library and Archives distributed to all employees the book (Zayed and the Saadiyat Miracle) with the aim of enriching their knowledge of this book’s distinguished national content with a pioneering agricultural experiment that reveals the genius of the founding leader Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan as the National Library and Archives has documented it. The National Library and Archives has also provided them with a set of national booklets, which document aspects of the UAE history and the biographies of its greatest leaders and highlighted the importance of the information in the events which were offered by a number of experts, specialists, writers and intellectuals from inside and outside the National Library and Archives during the reading month and described them as accurate and well documented.

It is noteworthy that the National Library and Archives has organized virtual lectures on reading as a social responsibility and a national initiative. The lectures also dealt with types of reading and e-books and introduced the rare Arabic books project and made them available to researchers.

The National Library and Archives allocates open days to acquaint the public with the Emirates Library and its opening timings and the special events for the employees’ children to extend the benefits to all the people.

The events also included lectures and reading workshops that were presented in cooperation with national, society and educational centers and institutions. The most prominent lectures were: Education in the United Arab Emirates, Emirati Values and Memorable Speeches of Zayed... and others.

The events of the National Library and Archives come to enhance its social responsibility and to sustain the cultural development. These events will continue until the last day of this month.