Three specialists in office operations and children’s book authorship discussed the vital importance of dedicated spaces for office work in enhancing academic achievement, as well as the role of libraries in motivating students and enhancing their scientific and cultural skills at the fifteenth edition of the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, currently being held at the Expo Center Sharjah under the theme “Be the Hero of Your Story” until the 12th of May.
Participating in the seminar were Sohini Mitra, with 14 years of experience in publishing children’s books, alongside Cathy Kimber, a librarian and children’s literature writer and illustrator, and Flora Majdalawi, excelling in writing, translation, and with a special interest in young adult literature.
Cathy Kimber highlighted in the session the role of the library as a cultural platform that contributes to developing students’ perspectives and refining their research and analytical capabilities, beyond being a space for reading and learning.
From her perspective, Sohini Mitra pointed out that public libraries are still capable of sustainability and maintaining their presence despite the rapid technological advancements, emphasizing the need to strike a balance between printed and digital resources to meet societal aspirations and needs.
Author and translator Flora Majdalawi stressed the importance of advancing the role of libraries and achieving equitable knowledge distribution based on the population density in each area, advocating for digital transformation in library services and their evolution into community centers to bridge cultural and scientific gaps among individuals and ensure social justice.
Within a different framework, the Youth Creative Café at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival hosted a seminar titled “Realizing the Dream of Writing”, where young Saudi writer Taif Al Zhaeeri, the youngest winner of the Rashid bin Hameed Award for Culture and Science in the thirty-sixth edition, shared insights on storytelling by children and teenagers in their early stages, highlighting the imaginative process of crafting and writing a story.
She emphasized her writing style to be clear and straightforward while maintaining language accuracy, commending Sharjah’s efforts in preserving the Arabic language and supporting the cultural and intellectual scene, showcasing events like the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival as a platform for nurturing the literary talents of children and youths, creating literary works that enrich readers.
She disclosed that she is currently preparing a series of stories still under development, including one that she hopes will leave an impact on readers’ lives, whether in their professional fields or social interactions. This story is inspired by her personal experience in balancing her passion for writing with her expertise in the field of academic engineering.
Furthermore, the festival hosted a seminar titled “Supporting Specialized Education: Using Artificial Intelligence in Personalized Learning” at the “Culture Arena”, where Yasmin al-Rawi, an engineer and researcher in artificial intelligence, and recognized trainer in this field, discussed concerns about robots, ties to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and its implications.
Technical and knowledgeable. As mentioned, the clear impact that this progress will impose on human life by reducing costs, efforts, and easing the pressure on individuals.It has been reported that the UAE provides an ideal climate for the development of technologies related to artificial intelligence, as it includes incubators for startups working on producing distinctive software, along with academic research institutions located in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah. These institutions provide practical examples that utilize these technologies and engage in advanced experiments in machine learning. They have praised the national strategy for artificial intelligence, which aims to achieve the UAE’s aspirations for the year 2071, and accelerate the implementation of programs and projects aiming to build the country’s future.
