Arabic books go online through Dubai Digital Library initiative

Jamal bin Huwaireb.

Hundreds of Arabic books in different genres got its digital version as part of an initiative to establish the biggest online repository of Arab literature in Dubai.
More than 1,600 books covering Arabic language, medicine, pharmacy, geography, history, religion, sociology and others have become part of the Dubai Digital Library ( www.ddl.ae ), which was launched by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) on Wednesday, as part of government's 'Year of Reading' initiative.
"The DDL complements the announcement of the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, declaring 2016 as the Year of Reading in the UAE," said MBRF managing director Jamal bin Huwaireb at a press conference at the HCT-Dubai Men's College.
"The initiative is also led by the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; and Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to provide an advanced electronic platform with books covering all genres."
The DDL, which is accessible on multiple digital platforms, are free to access except those with propriety rights.
"It took us few years, not just one month or two months, to collate the books," Bin Huwaireb told Khaleej Times.
"It was not an easy job but in the coming months this digital library will be the biggest repository of knowledge in the Arab world. We are now going to Phase Two with bigger collection not just of books but we will also have maps, manuscripts and biographies.
"Many Arab people have written books that were not printed yet. It will be good (for the authors) to publish them on DDL," he added.
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