Muscat – Oman Avenues Mall recently celebrated the first anniversary of the opening of the Dar al Atta’a Let’s Read reading facility and charity bookshop in the third floor of the mall.  The facility received great response from the general public since its opening in October last year. 

As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility, management of Oman Avenues Mall had offered space for the Let’s Read programme with an objective to achieve a positive impact on society while maximising the creation of shared value for the mall.  

While the entire fit out and project cost was undertaken by Oman Avenues Mall, Dar al Atta’a manages the book collections and management of the project under a two-year, renewable management programme. Children who attended the first-year celebrations read books on display and enjoyed the award ceremony for the winners of the Summer Reading Challenge. 

On this special occasion, Let’s Read offered 50 per cent discount on children’s books. Besides a bookmark making workshop, story-telling session was also held. Children also had the opportunity to meet popular Oman based authors including Jane Jaffer, Fatma al Lawati and Azhar Ahmed. 

A spokesperson for Dar al Atta’a said, “We thank Oman Avenues Mall for their sponsorship, cooperation and partnership with the Dar al Atta’a Let’s Read programme. The reading facility and charity bookshop has inculcated a love for reading among children and adults too. School children regularly visit the children’s library, where many events such as storytelling, writing workshops, author visits are held on a regular basis. Parents enjoy bringing their children to the library.”  

The facilities are open from 10am to 9pm every day. The Saturday morning Rhyme Time at 11am for children under five-year olds has proved a great success. Workshops for parents have also proved effective in supporting the parents’ role in helping their children to read. The charity bookshop for all age groups has been popular with the parents.” 

Derick Michael, general manager of Oman Avenues Mall, said, “We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone which has received so much love from the community. Building on the strengths in the promotion of reading, the Let’s Read reading facility and charity bookshop has been fostering a sustainable atmosphere and culture of reading by capitalising on the synergy of Oman Avenues Mall. The management of Oman Avenues Mall is delighted to see parents accompanying their children to the Let’s Read facility and encouraging them to pick from an assortment of Arabic and English titles available there. Let’s Read facility at Oman Avenues Mall has been focused on helping children discover the wonderful world of books.“