Millions benefit from ‘A Book in Minutes’ move

DUBAI: The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) reported that its flagship ‘A Book in Minutes’ initiative has registered significant achievements in the five and a half years since its launch.

The initiative seeks to promote reading among all segments of the community, offering summaries of international best-sellers in Arabic, and grouping them into bundles. Since its launch in 2015, ‘A Book in Minutes’ has produced as many as 195 book summaries covering a wide range of subjects, including positivity, human development, the art of dealing with everyday life, leadership, family issues, and tolerance.

MBRF distributes ‘A Book in Minutes’ bundles to employees at government agencies across the UAE, with as many as 975 individuals a year benefiting from the initiative. Meanwhile, more than 1.2 million visitors explored the initiative’s publications online over the same period. The summaries can be accessed by visiting either MBRF’S official website (www.mbrf.ae) or that of the Dubai Digital Library (www.ddl.ae).

MBRF’S CEO Jamal Bin Huwaireb asserted that the Foundation’s leading objectives include spreading a culture of reading and promoting the practice among all segments of the UAE community.

“The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation has launched several initiatives and projects that cater to readers’ needs and offer them the opportunity to explore the most popular books from around the world more easily through concise summaries,” Jamal Bin Huwaireb explained. “And that is what the ‘A Book in Minutes’ initiative achieved over the years, where its publications — both print and online — were widely sought ater from the public.”

Jamal Bin Huwaireb added that the Foundation is working to continuously develop ‘A Book in Minutes’, where a number of the initiative’s summaries were added as audiobooks on Emirates Airline flights. Furthermore, there are plans to develop the initiative to keep pace with the UAE’S digital transformation; a smart application will be launched where readers can access the summaries easily and from anywhere.

Qindeel Printing, Publishing, and Distribution — MBRF’S publishing arm — selects three global best-selling books every month to be summarised and translated into Arabic, and then distributed to the UAE community.

The summaries are also uploaded to the websites associated with the initiative to allow more readers across the region and the world to benefit from its publications.