Thousands Find Arabic Books in Unexpected Places; Campaign Reaches 62,000 Across UAE

More than 62,000 people across the United Arab Emirates came across an Arabic book somewhere they did not expect it during the first half of 2026. In a hospital waiting room. A public park. A cafe, a hotel lobby, a university library. These encounters were not accidental. They were arranged by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre as part of a campaign built on a simple premise: rather than asking people to seek out reading, bring books to where people already are.

The second phase of the Community Campaign to Support Sustainable Reading reflects a deliberate shift in approach. The Khazanat Al Kutub initiative, which places ALC publications in key public facilities across the UAE, reached more than 54,000 beneficiaries in the first half of the year alone. The Reading in Public initiative went further, distributing more than 1,000 Arabic-language books to the Abu Dhabi Housing Authority and Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City. Through partnerships with public and private institutions, the programme has since spread into cafes, parks, hospitals, hotels and other community spaces.

Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, Executive Director of the ALC, described the effort as foundational to broader social goals. “The continued growth of the Community Campaign to Support Sustainable Reading demonstrates the important role reading plays in strengthening families, communities and our connection to the Arabic language,” he said. “Reaching more than 62,000 beneficiaries during the first half of the year reflects the success of our expanding programmes and partnerships, while reinforcing our commitment to making reading a daily habit and knowledge a lifelong pursuit that empowers future generations and supports the UAE’s continued cultural development.”

Younger readers sat at the centre of much of this work. The Kalima School Reading Club entered its second phase with plans to reach 40 schools across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, combining interactive reading sessions, educational activities and book distribution. The programme draws on research from the Balanced Arabic Readability Corpus (BAREC) project to support reading development. At the Al Dhafra Book Festival, 58 school trips brought 1,980 students to the event, supported by 26 volunteers.

Meanwhile, educational institutions became focal points for the campaign’s expansion. The Treasures of Knowledge initiative added 2,000 titles from the Kalima Project for Translation and the Esdarat publishing project to the United Arab Emirates University library. The centre has announced plans to extend this initiative to additional educational institutions and organisations across Abu Dhabi, aiming to strengthen access to high-quality Arabic publications and reinforce Modern Standard Arabic as a living language of knowledge, culture and creativity.

Inclusion shaped the campaign throughout its second cycle. The Arabic Through People of Determination Eyes initiative, delivered in partnership with the Zayed Authority for People of Determination and Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, offered specialised workshops including Braille reading sessions. These programmes aimed to promote creativity, self-expression and greater participation in Abu Dhabi’s cultural life among participants with disabilities.

The campaign was launched in 2025 in support of the UAE’s Year of Family and continues to grow through partnerships across public, private and educational sectors. The centre’s strategy rests on a conviction that sustainable reading habits do not emerge from isolated programmes but from weaving books into the ordinary rhythms of community life. Whether that holds true at scale, as the initiative pushes into 40 more schools and additional institutions across Abu Dhabi, remains the question the second half of 2026 will begin to answer.