AMMAN — Some passers-by on the streets of Amman might have believed themselves to be the victims of an April Fools’ Day prank when total strangers offered them books along with sweets. But it was a campaign carried out by Al-Dakhliyah Cir, a group from Jordan’s National Library, to encourage reading in the kingdom.
“Your Book, Your Friend” was launched on the occasion of the UNESCO-sponsored National Book Week, which started the first day of April. Throughout the week, some 1,500 adult and children’s books were distributed around the capital and nearby towns, said Nidal al-Ayasira, the director of the Department of the National Library.