Knowledge without Borders Initiative Showcases Cultural Expertise at São Paulo Book Fair 2018

Knowledge without Borders (KwB), among the leading participating entities from the Sharjah Pavilion at the 25thSao Paulo Book Fair, organised a panel session titled “Knowledge without Borders’ Success Story’ yesterday (Monday), to highlight their journey in promoting a love of reading among parents and children in Sharjah, noting specific reasons for their campaigns’ success. 

During its panel session, organised as part of celebrating Sharjah being the Guest of Honor for the 25th Sao Paulo Book Fair, KwB engaged an international audience on how it achieved a symbolic milestone in its promotion for reading. The panel discussed that during the last 10 years, KwB has distributed more than 2.2 million books to more than 42,000 local families across the emirate through its ‘Home Library’ free books distribution programme. 

The leading cultural initiative, which was broken down to numerous phases throughout its process, believed to be one of the largest giveaways of books by a government anywhere in the world, and coincided with the emirate’s relentless efforts to encourage community members to spend more time reading.   

Led by Noura bin Hadiya, Manager of KwB; and Jamelah Haikal, a beneficiary of KwB’s projects, the discussion informed audiences about KwB’s vision and mission, and how they are linked intricately with all their success stories, including their most recent milestone – the home libraries project. 

“At KwB, we share Sharjah’s vision of making knowledge the basis of society by making books and reading an essential part of every household; an essential feature of parenting, which comes in much before a child is ready for formal education. A lot of our initiatives and programmes are focused on strengthening the role of the family in supporting and developing intellectualism among its young members, simply because parents and elders at home are the first humans a child comes into contact with.  

“Children love to imitate their parents and adapt many of their habits. If mum and dad are book lovers, chances of children picking up a book at an early age are considerably higher. Sharjah is implementing educational and awareness programmes that target both children and parents, driven by its firm belief that the family is a reflection of  an entire community and the builder of the future generations,” said Hadiya to the panel’s attendees.  

The various developmental phases of the initiative were shared with the Brazilian and international audience, with an emphasis on the ways in which the rest of the world can adopt KwB’s successful strategies and customise them to fit their literary and cultural milieu.   

The panel stressed on the need for all entities dedicated to community development through education to pay keen attention to devising strategies, which would make it easier for all segments of society and individuals of all age groups to access books. Hadiya also observed the need to promote cross-cultural dialogue and enhance communication opportunities between those involved in international cultural fields.

Jamelah Haikal, KwB’s home library project beneficiary, said: “I would like to express my appreciation to KwB’s efforts and assistance to facilitate the process of receiving home libraries in cooperation with each city’s district councils in the Emirate of Sharjah. I received my home library containing 50 books. The titles and topics covered were just what I needed for my six children and us. My kids also received a 30-book library and it felt as though KwB had customised the library for us! Thanks to the 30 children’s titles on the shelves, my kids make contact with books regularly, and I often see them hovering around our new home library!” 

Shedding light on the increasing Brazilian diaspora in the UAE, Haikal pointed out that there were only three Brazilian ladies living and working in the UAE when she moved 30 years ago, and that the number has crossed 10,000 today. She also lovingly mentioned that she used her knowledge about Emirati habits and Arab traditions to help Brazilians expats in the UAE she came in touch with to settle into the new environment they began calling home.

Knowledge without Borders (KwB) is a Sharjah Government initiative instigated to encourage parents and children to spend more time reading. The initiative intends to further cement Sharjah's reputation as the region's Cultural Capital through its intensive educational programmes, lectures and school and library activities.

The unique KwB initiative aims to emphasise the importance of reading for childhood development and to increase general knowledge within the local community. KwB is organising several reading initiatives such as: the ‘Home Library’, ’Mobile Library’, ‘1001 Titles’, ‘Take a Book and Leave a Book’, ‘Coffee and Book’, and many others.