emirates7 - The ‘Library on Wheels’ initiative, operated by the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), will continue its tour of the emirate on a year-long basis.

This comes after a series of successful pop-ups at schools and key locations in Abu Dhabi city during March, as part of the ‘Abu Dhabi Reads’ programme.

Part of the fifth national ‘UAE Reads’ campaign, ‘Abu Dhabi Reads 2022’ directly engaged more than 30,000 readers across the Abu Dhabi community, with over 27,000 attending weekend literature-themed events at Umm Al Emarat Park, and over 3,000 readers swapping old books for new ones at the month-long schedule of ‘Library on Wheels’ pop-ups, which toured 13 schools and 14 key destinations.

Amer Al Hammadi, ADEK Under-Secretary, said, "In perfect alignment with ADEK’s strategy of promoting a daily reading culture and contributing to the UAE National Reading Agenda, the excellent response to this year’s Abu Dhabi Reads initiative has unearthed a healthy and highly encouraging appetite for more community-wide opportunities to engage with literature."

"Having identified strong demand for the mobile library services among families and students, we have decided to continue the 'Library on Wheels' tours throughout the year with the initiative now set to visit more schools and key locations across the emirate," he added.

Al Hammadi continued, "The enthusiasm shown for these activities has strengthened our commitment to promoting reading culture and literature to the community beyond school gates. We are determined to work with relevant stakeholders to launch more innovative reading-themed activities which build a culture of reading for enjoyment, relaxation and wellbeing, as well as educational purposes to enhance the literacy skills and reading habits among students."