Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi (R) at the Sharjah International Book Fair The Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) is participating at the 137th American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference, which is taking place from the June 27 to July 2 in Chicago.
A premier annual event that brings together professionals, as well as individuals and organisations interested in the field of library and information sciences, the 2013 edition is being held under the theme, Transforming Our Libraries, Ourselves.
Headed by Ahmed Al Ameri, SIBF Director, the SIBF delegation is making use of the opportunity to promote the upcoming 32nd edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair, taking place from the November 6-16 at the Expo Centre Sharjah. The delegation is conducting a series of meetings with library directors from across the US with the aim of inviting them to participate in SIBF 2013 and encouraging them to purchase publications participating in SIBF.
Ahmed Al Ameri, SIBF Director, said: \"Libraries perform a vital function in the cultural and intellectual development of any community. Not only are they depositories of knowledge, but even more importantly, they act as cultural resource centres where people can access information from across the world and thus expand their horizons. For this reason we are very excited to be taking part in this highly valuable conference and look forward to forging strong relationships with the library and information science sector, in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.\"
He added that SIBF\'s exhibition was displaying a number of books from Sharjah based publishers, including titles from Al Qassimi Publications, which specialises in publishing books, research articles, and studies by the Ruler of Sharjah in the fields of history, political geography and literature of the Gulf region, titles from the Department of Culture and Information, various titles from the award winning Sharjah-based Arabic children\'s publisher, Kalimat, and publications from Emirates Publishers Association.