An initiative that aims to spread the culture of reading in society by encouraging the public to read collectively in a public place, in addition to distributing books for free, which was set up for the first time in Baghdad at Abu Nawas Gardens in 2012 by a group of volunteer.
A few months later, we set up the initiative in Najaf on the gardens of the Palace of Culture, and we were able to collect more than 10,000 books to be distributed to the attendees, who exceeded a thousand.
And it was not just about reading, but various art exhibitions were held in which many young artists participated.
What is so distinctive about this initiative in Najaf?
We imagine that the initiative was the first of its kind in Najaf, and perhaps not only to encourage reading, but also to push for independent civil initiatives as a whole, if after this initiative many youth groups began to form and appear and establish projects and activities, in that case this initiative could be considered a success.
We are very proud that the initiative was able to include in the ranks of its organizers many female volunteers to the extent that they overshadowed the male volunteers in numbers, the organizing committee included more than 35 female volunteers, and this matter encouraged many girls later to engage and participate in civic initiatives and awareness campaigns.
What are the results and impact of this initiative on the Najafian community?
We imagine that the impact of this initiative was not limited to Najaf only, but also extended to the neighboring provinces and greatly affected large layers of young people throughout Iraq, just as the initiative that was established in 2013 extended Baghdad, the impact of the initiative was felt over the coming years, as the book shops all over Iraq saw significant recovery to the point that specialized shops opened, before that book shops were limited to certain areas in Najaf and they only sold religious books. in addition pages and groups interested in reading and promoting books emerged and gained popularity.
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