Culture & Education | Tuesday 9 April, 2019 4:21 am |

Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has announced the conclusion of its ‘Reading Box 2019’ initiative, themed A generation reads…A civilisation rises, after it saw great success and an ‘exceeding-expectations’ turnout of students from the schools of Dubai and beyond.

Held from 7thto 19thMarch 2019 at City Centre Mirdif, the initiative’s fourth edition highlighted the values celebrated in the Year of Tolerance, through a series of events that promoted reading habits among community members. For 12 hours each day, the initiative welcomed students from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm on weekdays, which was extended to 12:00 am for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The Reading Box 2019benefited 13,233 people, of which 2,504 were students from 49 classes and 20 schools, who participated in a total of 79 events. This edition’s success was only possible with the help of Dubai Culture’s partners, 18 different entities, 8 publishing houses, and a group of local authors and literary scholars.

Saeed Al Nabouda, Acting Director General at Dubai Culture, said: “This year’s ‘Reading Box’ initiative is a testament to our commitment to support the UAE National Reading Strategy 2026, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the national Month of Reading in March. With all our objectives achieved, we would like to offer our deep gratitude to all who made this year’s edition a success, especially our esteemed partners, individuals, publishers, and contributing entities.”

For this year’s Reading Box Calendar, Dubai Culture prepared a list of programmes, including the ‘Creativity Labs’, which focused on challenges pertaining to reading and knowledge dissemination. In addition, the agenda featured a series of sessions to discuss matters related to youth and the future, and their role in addressing social issues like bullying, which was explored at the Creativity Lab, organised in collaboration with Dubai Police Force and a line-up of exemplary school students. The sessions also shed light on new publications targeting adults, in addition to book signings, and interesting discussions.

Furthermore, the activities featured story reading sessions, where children enjoyed their favourite stories from authors and got their personal copies signed. They also highlighted new children’s books, while hosting a variety of training and educational courses, workshops, literary and cultural panel discussions, and lectures targeting different  segments of the society.

Organised by Dubai Culture’s Public Libraries Department, the ‘Reading Box’ initiative aims to promote reading in new and innovative settings across major shopping centres in Dubai, with an aim to integrate reading into the lifestyles of the UAE’s residents.

Dubai Culture aims to enhance Dubai’s cultural scene and draw attention to the UAE’s rich heritage. The Authority’s mandate is to build bridges of constructive dialogue between different civilisations and cultures to enhance Dubai's position as a creative and sustainable global city for culture, heritage, arts, and literature, with the aim to empower these sectors by developing creative and innovative projects and initiatives locally, regionally, and globally.