The project ‘Dawn of Library’ a plan to develop small libraries in deprived regions, which is one of the activities of Iran’s House of Librarian for the Promotion of Reading Among Children and Young People, was selected by the Sharjah/IBBY Fund for Children in Crisis for promoting the culture of reading.
The House of Librarian is affiliated to Iranian Children’s Book Council (CBC). The project was introduced by the CBC awards committee to the national branch of the fund in the United Arab Emirates for the development of reading in underprivileged areas, IBNA reported.
It proved its superiority among the promotion plans participating from different parts of the Middle East and North Africa, and garnered financial support from the fund.
The project aims to establish and support five school libraries in the disadvantaged areas of Sistan-Baluchistan Province, in southeast Iran, where ethnic and religious minorities live in the nomadic regions. The schools are located in remote provincial areas close to the border with Pakistan.
Providing easy access to high-quality books suitable for people living there, considering their age, gender and environment, is on the agenda, besides empowering children, teachers and librarians through workshops, pamphlets and guidelines.
In 2012, the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) and the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), a Swiss non-profit organization based in Zurich committed to bringing books and children together, launched the Sharjah/IBBY Fund for Children in Crisis to sponsor cultural programs in the region of Central Asia and North Africa.
It is largely dedicated for the development and support of long-term projects committed to reading and those that target children in post-crisis situations as well as children living in precarious conditions in the region.
Since 2012, projects have been funded in Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestine and Tunisia.
The project ‘Read With Me’ from South Khorasan Province was also one of the three awardees of the fund in 2012. It was designed to provide suitable and quality books for underprivileged kids, including street/working children, children living in remote areas, and those at risk in general.
Non-governmental organizations and community centers play a vital role in Iran in promoting and extending the reading culture in order to enrich knowledge and insight among the people.
