The Arab Federation for Libraries and Information Conference presents an experience "once upon a time" In empowering children to read
Sharjah, 26 November / WAM / The UAE Council on Books for Young People concluded its participation in the 36th conference of the Arab Federation for Libraries and Information, which was hosted by the Qatar National Library during the period from 23-25 November, under the slogan “Digital Justice and Arab Information Institutions: Strengthening Partnership, Sustainability, and Digital Transformation.”
The Council’s participation came within a session that discussed the role of humanitarian and cultural initiatives in promoting equitable access to knowledge and finding innovative solutions to the digital divide in the most fragile environments.
The session witnessed a large presence of Arab specialists and researchers who followed an integrated presentation on the UAE Council on Books for Young People’s project “Once Upon a Time” and its role in empowering children with books in areas of conflict, asylum and disasters.
The presentation presented by Marwa Al Aqroubi, President of the UAE Council on Books for Young People, constituted a new window to understanding the importance of reading as a basic right and as a tool that goes beyond paper to contribute to building the psychological and cognitive capacity of children and is consistent with the conference themes that focus on digital inclusion, cognitive justice, and the role of modern libraries in achieving them.
Marwa Al Aqroubi began her presentation by introducing the UAE Council on Books for Young People and its role in supporting the Arab children’s book industry, noting that the humanitarian initiatives adopted by the Council are based on a firm conviction that knowledge is a shared right and not a privilege specific to a place or region. She presented a general framework for the “Once Upon a Time” initiative, which was launched with the aim of providing high-quality books to children who have been deprived of access to sources of knowledge due to war, asylum, or difficult social circumstances.
She highlighted the experience of establishing the “Big Heart Library” in the Emirati-Jordanian camp in 2024 and its role as a safe reading platform that contributed to building a small knowledge society amid a turbulent environment, noting the success of the initiative in its beginnings by collecting more than 3,000 books, in addition to hundreds of books that were added later with the support of institutions and individuals from the UAE.
She also spoke about the therapeutic reading experience that was provided through 44 training hours for children and contributed to qualifying the first Emirati team specialized in this field. She gave a presentation of the Arabic guide issued by the Council, which includes 365 titles that address more than 40 psychological and social issues, considering that these efforts represent a practical model of how to integrate cognitive solutions with human needs and combat cultural and linguistic disparity in affected environments.
Marwa Al-Aqroubi touched on the importance of silent books and their role in multilingual environments, explaining that the Council hosted the International Silent Books Exhibition several times to highlight the ability of this type of book to overcome language barriers and provide visual content that helps children express their feelings and understand the world around them.
It also reviewed the initiative’s efforts in collecting 50,000 books through donation boxes spread across public libraries and the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, and distributing more than 17,500 books in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, India, Greece, and other regions, referring to field visits in Egypt, India, and Morocco, and supporting damaged libraries in Beirut after the port explosion in 2020.
Al-Aqroubi concluded her presentation by emphasizing that the “Once Upon a Time” initiative is not limited to delivering books, but rather works to consolidate the concept of culture as a sustainable empowerment factor for new generations, noting that the initiative has documented its humanitarian path through a series of videos highlighting the impact of reading on children’s lives and to expand in 2023 to include support for Arab communities in South Korea.
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