Since the center was established, encouraging children to read has been a core goal, as has encouraging family members to read to their children if they are young or have reading difficulties. This is done by supporting library activities such as lending books, reading, storytelling, book discussions, and creative writing. Ultimately, this helps to develop the cognitive abilities of the children and supports their enrichment in a collaborative environment.
The library cooperates with other institutions such as Bethlehem University, the Tamer Institution, the Culture Directorate, the Education Directorate, local libraries, and more. The library currently contains around 7000 children’s books in Arabic and English.
Ghirass started the reading campaign, “Born to Read” in 2010 in cooperation with the Education Directorate in Bethlehem. Ghirass distributed approximately 3000 children’s books to schools and kindergartens in the Bethlehem district. By putting considerable effort into encouraging parents, “in particular mothers”, to be more involved in reading activities, Ghriass hopes to empower parents to support their children’s learning. Every week we hold a group discussion about “how to make reading a daily activity in my family routine”. The success of this program is clear from the good attendance, in particular among children who suffer from learning difficulties and underachievement problems.