Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) is partnering with the Big Bad Wolf Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (BBW) – popularly known as the organiser of the World’s Biggest Book Sale, the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, to further expand the access of affordable books to all members of society in the
Middle East and Africa regions. The two entities will facilitate their joint efforts with the establishment of a regional branch at the Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone – Big Bad Wolf Sharjah, which will be in charge of the Book Sale in the region and other regional operations.

The joint venture was signed on the side-lines of the ongoing Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2019), that promotes the importance of reading, the emirate is delivering through its year-long Sharjah World Book Capital 2019 celebrations.

HE Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman, SBA, said: “This partnership is our new step towards making good books more accessible to readers locally and regionally, and increasing sales of Arab and African publishers. Through this new venture, we will also be jointly boosting the circulation and movement of one billion books produced by nations in the MEA region in the next five years. By doing so, our aim is to widely introduce the literary products of individual nations in the said region to others to promote cultural exchange and appreciation.”

“SBA is delighted to partner with BBW – a company that has been spreading the love of reading in countries worldwide through the Book Sale. Through this partnership, we look forward to increasing the readers’ access to high quality and latest content in Middle East and Africa”, the SBA Chairman added.

“This strengthens SBA’s strategic position as a hub for the book industry in the Arab region and the world. The authority is also the organiser of one of the top three largest book fairs in the world. SBA’s mission and objectives are aligned with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, of leading the cultural movement on regional and international levels, build bridges and open communication channels with countries around the world, in order to achieve more peace and stability,” he continued.

“We started organising the Book Sale in 2009 as we realised if we want to make changes, we need to create an impact to attract people’s attention. We had a simple mission which we follow till now, to increase reading habits and to spread the joy of reading by giving access to large quantity of affordable books. We started organising the Book Sale internationally in 2016 as we were working towards our mission to be a success and we are delighted with how well it was received by people from different parts of the world. Today, we are excited to be partnering with Sharjah Book Authority as we walk hand-in-hand to further enhance our presence in the Middle Eastern and African countries,” said Andrew Yap, Co-founder of Big Bad Wolf Book Sale.

Jacqueline Ng, Co-founder of Big Bad Wolf Book Sale who was also present at the signing ceremony mentioned, “We have always wanted to change the world, one book at a time and build a new generation of readers. We are constantly on the look-out for organisations or partnerships that support our mission to enhance our presence in a different region. Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is not just about selling books, but a reading advocacy organisation.  Purchasing a book should not be luxury item or a privilege but a right regardless of their status. Through the partnership with SBA, we hope with the network built, we will be able to bring the changes to more people from this region in a shorter span of time by creating the platform to inspire people by empowering them with knowledge to chase their dreams.”

BBW and SBA are both in line to encourage people especially children to read books by bringing English books to the region with limited book readership at the lowest price possible. They believe that instilling reading habits should begin at a young age and through this partnership, they also believe they can increase the readership percentage in the region.

The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is the sought-after Book Sale all over the world for its unique features of 24-hour Book Sale with affordable books at 50% to 90% off recommended retail price and entrance to its Sale for free. BBW will end the year of 2019 having organised the Book Sale in 32 cities, 10 countries including Pakistan, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.