As part of its activities for the Reading Month initiative, the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has expanded the scope of the first phase of its ‘Reading in Public’ initiative, which was launched at the beginning of the year, to include coffee shops around the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in a bid to strengthen the culture of reading among all segments of the community.
Publish dateThursday 4 April 2024 - 07:05
Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, Executive Director of Abu Dhabi Language Centre, said: “Applied experiments have demonstrated that making books available in social spaces draws more attention to them and presents reading as an alternative pastime, which, in turn, enhances the prevalence of reading, gradually turning it into a habit among youth. And this makes the ‘Reading in Public’ initiative all the more important, given its role in integrating books into social life, making them accessible to all lifestyles, spreading a culture of reading, and instilling it as a habit among all members of the community.”
“Our goal is to reach the younger generations in places that suit their lifestyles and their new social patterns,” H.E. added. “This is a great duty and responsibility, and with that in mind, we have relied on a set of specific selection criteria to identify dozens of modern cafés and branches across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi for the initiative. Moreover, targeted surveys have led to the conclusion that these coffee shops have become meeting places for young people, including university students and young professionals.”
“The first phase of the initiative includes signing agreements with 12 cafés in Abu Dhabi, starting with Cartel Coffee Roasters,” Al Tunaiji continued. “The project includes dozens of other cafés across the Emirate who will join the ‘Reading in Public’ initiative, which we seek to expand to include various parts of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi over the course of the year.”
The first stage of the ‘Reading in Public’ initiative targets eight locations, including hotels, hospitals, and cafés, among others. It aims to encourage the public to use their free time in waiting areas to read, and to promote reading in Arabic, in line with the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre’s objectives to enhance the presence of Arabic as a language of culture, science, and creativity.
The initiative provides publications and printed books from the ALC’s Kalima Project for Translation and the ‘Esdarat’ project across various fields. The process for selecting the displayed books includes studying their popularity and updating them every quarter to meet the requirements of the target audience and provide them with the latest releases that align with their aspirations and help develop their cultural and intellectual inventory.
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