Saudi Gazette The best tool to fight boredom and to make time fly by quickly on one of those long, dull days is by reading a good book. Reading a good book can be an excellent entertainment when your mommy is in a foul mood and has placed the whole family under a no-TV rule! Reading is not only fun, but it has so many benefits that you probably must have never thought of it before. Dr. Suess, author of the great book Cat in the Hat, said, “The more you read; the more things you will know. The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.” This week let us learn the amazing advantages of reading, and then we will take you to a great place where you can find books on all topics, have lots of fun, and make friends, too, at the same time.1-Reading makes you smarter in general. We know for a fact that children who read a lot do better in school and have higher marks than children who do not read. 2-Reading helps you relax whether it is a nice fantasy story before bed or a funny book that makes you laugh. 3- Does your teacher keep scolding you for spelling mistakes? Reading helps improve your spelling and widens your vocabulary. 4-Reading helps strengthen your memory! So read more to help you remember all those scientific definitions and verses from the Qur'an that you have been working so hard to memorize. 5-Reading more helps improve your own writing skills and will almost automatically give you better scores on your composition and essay tests. 6-Reading gives you knowledge about different people, other cultures, and other interesting places of the world. You can be lying on your bed at home while still exploring the forests way out in Mexico or the Amazon jungle in Brazil or drifting down the Congo River in Africa. 7-Reading builds your self-confidence. The more you read the more you know and the more you can answer questions that come up and the more topics you can talk about in conversations. That will make you feel better about yourself. 8- Reading makes you more creative and imaginative. 90Reading helps get rid of boredom!You kids have already felt the thrill of reading a masterpiece like Harry Potter and have probably already burst out laughing when reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with all of Willy Wonka's crazy inventions. Now, you want to read more such thrilling, funny and entertaining books, but you have run out of your monthly allowance and you can't buy the book which all your friends at school have been talking about. So, what do you do? You head toward Jeddah's very own public library. Located on Rawdah street, My Library in Jeddah is lined with bookshelves filled with a plethora of books that you have ever dreamed of…You can find all the classics in both, English and Arabic. Read as many books as you like written by your favorite author or learn about other fantastic authors. Your younger brothers and sisters will enjoy the storybooks of their beloved characters like Barney, Dora, Bob the Builder, and Thomas the Engine. Borrow a book that will teach you the skills of a new hobby you are working on such as painting, arts & crafts, or cooking. We met Saamir Iskander, a young boy in grade five, reading a book in My Library. He said, “I come to the library every Thursday to borrow books. I read all the hilarious books written by Roald Dahl and now I'm into adventure books like the Hardy Boys.” Eight-year-old Abdullah Zein often goes to the library to read, look through colorful picture books, listen to entertaining stories told by mesmerizing storytellers, learn Surahs from the Qur'an, and do an art project. Once you become a member of the library you can borrow two books, one for yourself and one for another person in your family (only up to 4 people). You can take the books home and keep them with you for two weeks to read and enjoy in the comfort of your own room. Before the due date is over, you must return the books so that you can borrow more. If you hand in your books late, you will pay a penalty fee of SR1 per day for each book. The one-year membership at My Library costs SR500, and the six-month library membership costs SR300. If you think of it in the long run, this price is actually pretty good and you will save lots of money that you spend on buying books from expensive bookstores. The friendly librarian, Umayma Asaad said to us, “My Library is more than just a place to read and borrow books because there are always fun activities and courses you can take to learn something new. Every day we have a story time at 11:00am and again at 5:00pm in the afternoon. On some days, the story is narrated through an exciting puppet show. Call us to ask about the courses we are offering this month because our activities vary between arts & crafts, painting, story writing, drama, penmanship, and Qur'an lessons. And every Wednesday is called Movie Day as we show a popular children's movie in the afternoon and serve popcorn.” Call My Library today to get directions: 02-263-1709. The library is opens Saturday through Wednesday from 10:00am to 1:00pm in the morning and 4:30 pm to 8:00pm in the evening. On Thursday's it's open from 10:00am to 3:00pm only. __
