The Sharjah Library Project

Since 2008, Sharjah, one of the member states of United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been providing 2.1 million books to over 42,000 families under the part of the Home Library project.

The books were provided under the directions of the Sharjah’s Ruler HH Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi. Knowledge without Borders, a cultural initiative based in the emirate, distributed the books to the recipient families. Under the project, each Emirati family was provided with fifty books.

Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, the chief of the organizing committee of Knowledge without Borders initiative, supervised the Home Library project.

Praising the initiative, Al Qasimi said Knowledge without Borders has managed to accomplish quite a feat on the cultural project that is currently in progress in the emirate of Sharjah. The initiative envisions enabling the youths of the emirate to emerge as global leaders, she added.

The project envisions offering the joy of reading to the youths from the local communities as well as encourage them to read on a daily basis, Al Qasimi stated.

The initiative has made it possible for each family in Sharjah to own a personal library, which will inspire and motivate them to read and add more books to their personal book collection, she further added.

Rashid Al Kous, general manager of Knowledge without Borders, stated that the initiative will not end following the conclusion of the Home Library project and will keep on introducing and executing new events and campaigns to make a knowledge-based society, a popularize reading, and accomplish prosperity and growth.

The initiative envisions strengthening the emirate’s reputation as a cultural hub in the United Arab Emirates as well as the entire Middle East and North African region, he added.

Starting on 2008, the Sharjah library project was executed in 13 phases till 2016.

In 2016, Knowledge without Borders has donated Arabic books and completely equipped personal libraries to 42,366 households in Sharjah and termed the year as the ‘Year of Reading’.

Knowledge without Borders also initiated other projects such as Mobile Library project, Hotel Library project, Knowledge Cart project, and Digital Library project.

Under the Air Library Project, the organization has formed a tie up with Air Arabia and provides books for reading to people from far off destinations. This project aims to provide books to both the residents of the emirate as well as people visiting the emirate and give them the joy of reading.

Under the Mobile Library project, Knowledge without Borders deploys a wide collection of books stacked in vans and vehicles that goes to remote places and invite people to read the books. This project takes the mobile libraries to public places, cultural hotspots, and educational institutions across the United Arab Emirates.

Under the Hotel Library project, the initiative has maintained well stocked libraries in some select hotels and resorts to help guests and staff to read books and acquire information about the emirate’s history, culture, people, geography, etc.

Under the Knowledge Cart project, the initiative distributes books to patients admitted in medical clinics and public hospitals in the emirate.

Under the Digital Library project, the organization enable the youths to access a wide collection of books and reading materials in the Internet.

The library collection has a wide range of books on several fields of studies such as archaeology, cooking, culture, education, history, literature, nutrition, philosophy, poetry, politics, science, technology, and various other fields. The collection also has some books written by the Ruler of the emirate HH Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi.