A seven-year-old pupil in Al Ain has started a free library with his collection of 500 books to motivate children to read
Ayaan Tariq, who is in the third grade, hopes to reduce screen time among his peers by fostering a love of reading.
He set up the library for the children in his district in January, and more than 100 people have borrowed books.
“I love books and started reading when I was three years old,” he said.
“I started this library six months ago because I wanted others to enjoy reading and did not want them to stare at screens all day.”
Ayaan has invited children aged four to 13 to visit his library.
“I made sure my library was free because if people had to pay, they would think I was doing this for money,” he said.
“Some of my friends and neighbours come over and at least 15 children borrow books every month.”
Ayaan also enjoys recommending books to others.
His father passed on his reading habit to Ayaan and his mother bought him books.
Ayaan started reading activity books but graduated to fiction.
The pupil at Brighton College Al Ain has amassed his collection over many years and has books suited to children aged four to 13.
Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry books and Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants tales are among his favourites.
He also enjoys books for advanced readers, including those by David Walliams.
The family converted a room outside their home into a library, and Ayaan maintains a record when lending books.
He follows Covid-19 safety measures and children have to wear masks and gloves at the library.
Books are disinfected after each use and children are asked to sanitise their hands when they come over to borrow a book.
“One day, I was buying a book for Ayaan and the shopkeeper asked me if I had an older child I was purchasing the book for,” said his mother, Moomal Tariq, a doctoral student at UAE University.
“When I told him it was for my seven-year-old son, he said it was meant for older children. When he heard Ayaan read, he was surprised.
“I realised that his literacy skills were advanced for his age and invested in books for him.”
When the family travels home to Pakistan, they carry bags full of books for Ayaan.
“Our message to people is that children should not be glued to screens,” Ms Tariq said.
“Children should be introduced to books as early as possible.
“Whenever we travel somewhere, we don’t give Ayaan any gadgets.
“Give your children books so they can be introduced to different worlds every day.”
She said Ayaan’s principal, Jonathan McArthur, and other teachers encouraged him to read by giving him new books every week.
Ayaan’s father, Dr Tariq Farhad, a family doctor in Al Ain, said his son had finished the prescribed reading for Grade 3 and was already on fourth-grade books.
Ayaan is working on publishing his detective comic and aims to be an author or a painter when he grows up.
The pupil won the story-writing competition at Sharjah Book Festival in 2019, receiving the prize of Dh3,000.
He has a variety of fiction, non-fiction and Islamic books in his collection.
Daisy, the Quest Adventures collection and books from the How to Train your Dragon, Big Nate and Mr Gum series are among the titles on the shelves.
West Indies v India - Third ODI
India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)
India won by 93 runs
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
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Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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