00:01Doha International Book Fair
00:02It's a great way to discover
00:03even if you're not from Qatar
00:04that you're from different parts of the world
00:07you will always have a way to connect
00:08with the content that we have here in One Book in Doha
00:14Whether it's Jane Austen
00:15Jalaluddin Rumi, Hans Christian Andersen
00:18or Al Hariri of Basra
00:20you'll be able to find their
00:21timeless classics right here
00:23and perhaps in more than one language
00:25The Doha International Book Fair
00:27has been cultivating a love for literature
00:29in Qatar for generations
00:31but the story has only
00:33just begun. Spread across
00:35a 29,000 square meter space
00:37the Book Fair has become the marquee event
00:39for not only literature lovers
00:41but also art enthusiasts
00:43as well as curious and creative
00:45minds. Making its public debut
00:47is this art exhibition by Jawahar
00:49Al Sayed. Titled The Journey
00:51the gallery tells the story of Qatar's
00:53transformation from a humble
00:55pearl diving port to a global
00:57oil and gas powerhouse
00:59Every year, the booths of participating
01:01organizations are designed
01:03to engage readers beyond
01:05prose and paper. Qatar Reads
01:07the country's flagship national reading
01:09initiative has brought the pages
01:11of a classic Arabic book collection
01:13to life through its One Book
01:15One Doha program
01:17We consider reading to be
01:18just the first step in our journey
01:21Here is where the
01:22the creatives in the community
01:25are encouraged to read
01:26absorb the story and then create
01:28their own. Among them is the carpet
01:30by Qatari artist Wadha Al Adba
01:32where she reimagined a scene from
01:34one of the illuminated manuscripts of
01:37It's a great way to discover
01:39even if you're not from Qatar
01:40that you're from different parts of the world
01:42you will always have a way to connect
01:44with the content that we have here in One Book
01:46One Doha. Also making a debut
01:48is the Ministry of Culture's
01:50new encyclopedic initiative
01:52called This Is Qatar
01:54The collection consists of six
01:56main segments telling the nation's
01:58story from its historical roots
02:00to its cultural heritage, wildlife
02:02biodiversity, and societal
02:04development. Launched in 1972
02:07the Doha International Book Fair
02:09started with just 20 publishing
02:11houses. Today that number
02:12has grown to more than 500
02:14with up to 50 participating
02:16countries every year. As one of
02:18Qatar's pioneering retailers
02:20Samarkand Books believes that the growth
02:22also reflects the country's
02:24evolving demographics
02:26When we launched we mainly focused
02:28on Arabic books but today
02:30English books are also on the rise
02:32Our growth reflects Qatar's
02:34maturation as a cosmopolitan
02:37society valuing
02:38education and cultural exchange
02:41The rapid digitalization
02:43of the publishing industry
02:44has fueled the growth of audio books
02:46and e-books which has led
02:48to the demise of many legacy
02:50bookstores. But in Qatar
02:52the trend has been quite the
02:54opposite. Reports of
02:57bookstores death is
02:58kind of exaggerated because we've
03:00seen a surge in bookstores
03:02between 2024 and 2025
03:04so I don't think
03:07that like AI and
03:08digital platforms could replicate
03:10books because it doesn't capture
03:12the essence of the
03:14book itself. And in Samarkand
03:16we are trying to build
03:18the community and our strategy
03:20is to continue to build
03:22for them and provide the books
03:24that they fall in love with.
03:25But elsewhere,
03:27digitalization is an inevitable
03:29trend that the Qatar National Library
03:31is choosing to embrace.
03:33One of the activations is called
03:35Literary Twin where people
03:37can actually take a quiz, answer
03:39some questions and then the results
03:41they're going to have their twin
03:43when it comes to authors. We do have
03:45a virtual tour of the library where people
03:47can step into the
03:49Qatar National Library and get to see
03:51our facilities and collections as well.
03:53We do have a digitization center
03:55where we digitize
03:56old books and also
03:59new books to make them available online
04:01for people to access them.
04:03Back at Qatar Reads, the One Book One
04:05Doha program aims to stimulate
04:07the minds of the young and old
04:09beyond the country's borders
04:11through a partnership with the
04:13Years of Culture Initiative.
04:15Specifically with Years of Culture,
04:17we've had five and as a result
04:19we've also translated our
04:20One Book One Doha books into
04:22four other languages including
04:24Spanish, French, Bahasa
04:26for Indonesia and German.
04:29And so all of these books
04:30have sort of increased the reach
04:32of our programming and they created
04:34a space for cultural exchange
04:36because whichever partner country
04:38we have with Years of Culture,
04:39we also feature that as a theme
04:41in the family reading program here in Doha.
04:43As the chapters of Qatar's story
04:45continue to be written,
04:46the Doha International Book Fair
04:48is where you'll find the authors, poets
04:50and artists who will broaden
04:52the country's intellectual horizon
04:54one book at a time.
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