DOHA: Qatar Foundation (QF) will launch a National Reading Campaign to develop a love of literature among all residents, with a focus on children.
QF will seek to unite individual literacy efforts of relevant organisations countrywide to create one, consolidated platform that will enable entities to collectively promote a passion for reading throughout the entire community.
Through innovative and interactive projects, the nationwide initiative will make books readily accessible to the people of Qatar and encourage their uptake.
“By incubating a deep-rooted culture of self-learning, QF is working to inspire a passion for innovation,” said Fahad Saad Al Qahtani, President, Community Development, QF.
“Reading is the primary building block for learning, as it helps encourage soft skills in young minds, including learning, understanding and creativity.
“Extensive research has revealed that reading aloud is the single most important activity for improving language and literacy skills and, among other things, the initiative will seek to promote this activity. Ultimately, we hope that the campaign will contribute to the continuing development of this nation,” he added.
The first stage of the year-round campaign, focusing on schoolchildren, is under way. Regular reading sessions are taking place at local schools, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to help engender a love of reading from an early age.
A schedule of activities and events will be launched in the months ahead. These include the Reading Truck, a dedicated vehicle that will operate as a mobile library; Vending Machines, which will be circulated around schools and allow children to exchange up to 10 books at a time; and interactive, immersive story-telling sessions and nationwide competitions.
As the initiative gathers momentum, more activities and events will be announced, each positioned to make reading an essential part of the country’s daily routine.
As the campaign evolves to include the wider public in its subsequent phases, the initiative will provide abundant reading and storytelling opportunities, in collaboration with local stakeholders and partners to involve the whole family. These include pop-up stores and public activities which will encourage parents, teachers and institutions to be actively involved in promoting a book-loving culture in Qatar. The Peninsula
