The Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has ordered the delivery of three million books to thousands of schools in the Arab world to encourage reading.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Library, a new cultural landmark in the area that was established with a $1 billion investment to nurture a culture of reading as well as to promote the growth of creativity, knowledge, and art on a personal as well as a societal level, was the inspiration for this new effort. It will serve as a stage for the region’s and the world’s most creative and innovative thinkers. Sheikh Mohammed stated that with the goal of enhancing Arab and world culture, the Mohammed bin Rashid Library aims to communicate the quintessential Arabic message. It will have an influence on the whole area. His Highness added, “We have the largest reading competition in the Arab world wherein 22 million students participate, and we have the latest Arabic library built at a cost of AED 1 billion (approx. 272,249,600.00 USD) with a noble mission to revive importance and reverence for books amongst our new generations.”
According to Sheikh Mohammed, gaining new knowledge relies on a solid foundation of previously acquired information. ‘Reading is the most important skill that our new generation can be armed with. The Mohammed bin Rashid Library will play a genuine role in consolidating culture and knowledge while promoting the habit of reading nationally and on the Arab level.’
The goal of the Mohammed bin Rashid Library is to make reading and culture more accessible to a new generation of Arabs, particularly young people, by providing them with both physical and digital literature.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Library has a lot of material spread out throughout its seven levels. All of this is included in a collection of more than 1.1 million printed and digital books in Arabic and other languages; more than 6 million dissertations; about 73,000 music scores; approximately 13,000 articles; approximately 35,000 print and digital newspapers from across the globe; and over 500 unique collectibles.