This three-day event dedicated to reading is held simultaneously in three Arab cities: Dhahran in Saudi Arabia, Alexandria in Egypt and Rabat. It aims to encourage the practice of reading in public libraries among Arab citizens, in view of the role of libraries in enriching scientific, cultural and civilizational life.
This initiative is intended to be a suitable opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of reading and its positive impact on the development of society, underlined in a statement to MAP, the head of the coordination center within the BNRM, Ibrahim Ighlane. .
This Marathon is in line with the objectives set by the BNRM, as a space for the dissemination of reading and in the service of books, he indicated, calling for the generalization of this action at the national level.
For his part, the cultural advisor at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture “Ithra’a”, Tariq El Khawaji noted that this event, which celebrates reading, will largely contribute to the promotion of the practice of reading within Arab societies. , noting that the issue of reading remains a common concern for Arab countries, hence the importance of this type of initiative.
Through this action, the “Ithra’a” center aims to plant a tree for every 100 pages read, until the goal of this year’s marathon is reached by totaling 500,000 pages read, equivalent to the planting of 5,000 trees.
The first edition of the Marathon, which took place at the “Ithra’a” library in Saudi Arabia, was crowned with the reading of 162,000 pages and the planting of 1,622 trees, while the second edition was organized in the library “Ithra’a” in Dhahran as well as in two other libraries in Riyadh and Tabouk, with 422,000 pages read and 4,223 trees planted.