The used books, which are donated by public & private schools, institutions, and centers, are key factors in making the 3rd Used Books Festival a great success. The festival is organized by SCHS in Al Nakheel Park from 4 to 7 March, 2009.These schools and institutions are very enthusiastic about participating in the 3rd Used Books Festival as they were in the previous festival in 2007. 31 Different institutions are going to participate in this event. There is still time for this number to increase until the end of February.
Many institutions are participating in this event for the first time after being informed about it through mass media, which SCHS has been using effectively. It is the good advertisement that gives an event its major significance. Therefore, SCHS concentrated its work on this aspect in particular.
The great participation from various institutions indicates the amount of responsibility that these people have for their community. And this is the main objective of organizing this event.
The outstanding participation of public and private schools indicates their awareness of the issues of people with special needs. This event has given them a great opportunity to show their dedication to such a noble cause. More than 32 public schools have confirmed their participation in the festival, yet the workers of SCHS hope that this number will increase by the end of February.
On the other hand, more than 10 private schools have confirmed their participation in the festival, yet the workers of SCHS hope that this number will increase by the end of February as well. The number of donated books has reached at the very moment more than 50,000. In addition, SCHS is expecting more books to be donated by the end of February. It is also willing to expect books even during the days of the festival.
This festival has two main objectives. The first one is to encourage the habit of reading by making books available for everyone. The second one is to raise funds for SCHS by collecting as many books as possible in addition to the paintings, posters, and photographs donated by others.
Furthermore, the festival has managed, even before its first day, to achieve many goals such as giving a clear idea about disability and disabled people; motivating students to volunteer in order to support the services provided for people with special needs by donating used books. The festival is very significant because it encourages voluntarily work and endorses the habit of reading.
SCHS is very grateful for Youths' Centers, which helped organizing this event by donating books and preparing for entertaining program that contains many contests and sketches such as folk dancing (Yolla).
Finally, SCHS would like to thank the 3rd Used Books Festival sponsors. They are Sharjah Islamic Bank, the General Assembly of Religious Endowments, Al Hamad Construction LTD, the Steps of Life LTD, Sharjah TV, and Al Khaleej Newspaper.