His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, has directed the allocation of AED 2.5 million worth of books to enrich Sharjah’s public, school and university libraries. The initiative, which will significantly expand the number of titles available to the public, comes in line with 2016 being declared as the UAE’s ‘Year of Reading.’

The books will be purchased from publishers participating in the eighth edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF 2016), which is currently underway at Expo Centre Sharjah. In addition to broadening access to sources of knowledge and culture for the emirate’s citizens and residents, the move will support publishers and the regional book industry as a whole.

SCRF 2016, which is running over 11 days until April 30, is being held with the participation of 130 publishing houses from 15 countries. The UAE tops the list of countries taking part with 55 publishing houses, followed by Lebanon with 25 and Egypt with 20. Canada, China, India and the United Kingdom are among the many other countries having a significant presence at this year's festival, which is exhibiting books in Arabic, English, French, Indian and Urdu, among other languages.

HE Ahmed Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority, organisers of SCRF 2016, said; “His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah has supported the Sharjah International Book Fair and the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival since their inception, providing all forms of support, patronage and guidance to ensuretheir excellent organisation and hosting. Each year, both events enjoy a strong

public turnout, feature broad participation from international exhibitors and have a long-term positive impact.”

Al Ameri emphasised that His Highness’ allocation of AED 2.5 million to buy books from publishers participating in this year’s SCRF edition will contribute to enriching Sharjah’s public, private and school libraries with outstanding titles and the latest publications. This will help develop children’s knowledge and equip them to deal with challenges in the present and the future.

“This year’s SCRF features 1,518 events spanning several programmes; the Children’s Programme with 1,245 activities, the Cultural Programme with 74, the Cookery Programme with 61 and the workshops with 27. There are 45 events as part of the space exhibition and 35 activities as part of the fifth edition of the Sharjah Exhibition for Children's Book Illustrations, which showcases 1,380 artworks byprofessional illustrators from 46 countries.