Broader outreach for Dubai Culture’s 2019 winter camp in the public libraries

Thanks to its previous success, the Public Libraries Department at Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) announced the expansion of its winter camp 2019 to include five libraries. The camp, comprising a series of fun-filled and mental activities to activate children’s imaginations will run from 15 to 26 December 2019. It will be hosted across two timing sessions: 10am to 1:30 pm at Umm Suqeim Library, and 4pm to 7:30pm at Al Twar, Al Rashidiya, Al Mankhool, and Al Safa Arts and Design Library.

The program has been tailor made for children from two age groups: 5 to 8 and 9 to 12 years. It includes specialised and innovative training courses that focus on technological development, the modern trends of artificial intelligence and future technology as well as creativity and innovation.

Besides the various workshops, reading activities and storytelling, the youngsters can benefit from six different activities carefully designed by specialised educators. Activities for the first age group (from 5-8 years) include: “The Little Engineer” that allows the children to assemble robots and vehicles and to explore the space and planets; “The Little Inventor - Electronics" that enables participants to produce various electronic devices and games; and "Augmented Reality", an educational and fun experience that involves designing a virtual world and integrating it with the real one. As for the activities of the second group (from 9 to 12 years), they include: "Drones and Air Dynamics", an activity developed to teach the children how to install and control a drone, as well as make several models of hovercraft and other aerodynamic objects; "Virtual Reality" that gives the children the opportunity to design applications and games using virtual reality technologies and 3D design; and “Game Design (Minecraft)" which enables participants to design digital games with their own-created characters and scenarios.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr Hissa bin Masood, Director of Public Libraries Department at Dubai Culture indicated that the move of expanding the camp’s outreach aims to accommodate many more youngsters in the programme, so that they can benefit from the educational activities and enhance their mental and creative capabilities during their winter school break.

“Given the great success and popularity that this camp enjoyed last year, we are pleased to announce that the 2019 Dubai Public Library Winter Camp will take place at five libraries in various areas of Dubai,” she said. “We look forward to attracting children who are talented in the fields of science, literature and art to hone their continuous development through a variety of activities that are held in an ideal environment suitable for their age group.”

The camp’s activities are meant to encourage children to adopt reading as a continuous habit in their daily lives, in addition to developing their scientific research, public speaking, writing and reading skills. On a wider scale, such interaction with the libraries will encourage the children to visit and become members as well as to attend various activities and events that are held throughout the year. 

“We are proud of the societal role that our libraries play. They have become cognitive, educational and entertaining destinations, which helps to strengthen the bond between the library and the student, and to support the role played by schools and parents," concluded Dr. Hissa bin Masood.

Dubai Culture aims to enhance Dubai’s cultural scene and draw attention to the UAE’s rich heritage. The Authority’s mandate is to build bridges of constructive dialogue between different civilisations and cultures to enhance Dubai's position as a creative and sustainable global city for culture, heritage, arts, and literature, with the aim to empower these sectors by developing creative and innovative projects and initiatives locally, regionally, and globally