SHARJAH, 27th November, 2025 (WAM) -- Marwa Al Aqroubi, President of the UAE Board on Books for Young People, participated in the 36th Arab Federation for Libraries and Information Conference, hosted by Qatar National Library recently, under the theme: "Digital Justice and Arab Information Institutions: Strengthening Partnership, Sustainability, and Digital Transformation".

The Board's participation came as part of a session discussing the role of humanitarian and cultural initiatives in promoting equitable access to knowledge and creating innovative solutions for the digital divide in vulnerable environments.

The session witnessed a large turnout of experts and Arab researchers who followed a comprehensive presentation on the "Kan Yama Kan" project and its role in empowering children with books in areas affected by conflict, displacement, and disasters.

The presentation offered new insight into reading as a fundamental right and a tool that goes beyond paper to build children's psychological and cognitive resilience, aligning with the conference's themes of digital inclusion, knowledge equity, and the role of modern libraries in achieving them.

Al Aqroubi began her presentation by introducing the UAE Board on Books for Young People and its role in supporting the Arab children's book industry, noting that the Board's humanitarian initiatives stem from a firm conviction that knowledge is a shared right, not a privilege tied to location or circumstance.

She provided an overview of the "Kan Yama Kan" initiative, launched to provide high-quality books to children deprived of access to knowledge due to war, displacement, or difficult social conditions.

She highlighted the establishment of "The Big Heart Library" at the UAE-Jordan refugee camp in 2014, which served as a safe reading platform that helped build a small knowledge community in a turbulent environment.

Al Aqroubi discussed the initiative's early success in collecting over 3,000 books, in addition to hundreds donated later by institutions and individuals in the UAE. She also spoke about the therapeutic reading experience delivered through 44 hours of training for children, which led to qualifying the first Emirati team specialising in this field.

She presented the Arabic guide issued by the Board, comprising 365 titles addressing more than 40 psychological and social issues, describing these efforts as a practical model for integrating knowledge-based solutions with humanitarian needs and combating cultural and linguistic disparities in affected environments.

Al Aqroubi highlighted the importance of silent books in multilingual environments, noting that the Board hosted the International Silent Book Exhibition several times to showcase the ability of such books to transcend language barriers and offer visual content that helps children express emotions and understand their surroundings.

She also reviewed the initiative's efforts in collecting 50,000 books through donation boxes in public libraries and the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, and distributing more than 17,500 books in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, India, Greece, and other regions. She referenced field visits to Egypt, India, and Morocco, and support for damaged libraries in Beirut following the 2020 port explosion.

Al Aqroubi concluded by affirming that "Kan Yama Kan" goes beyond delivering books; it works to embed culture as a sustainable empowerment tool for new generations. She pointed to documenting the initiative's humanitarian journey through a series of videos highlighting the impact of reading on children's lives, and its expansion in 2023 to support Arab communities in the Republic of Korea.