Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Encouraging people to spend their preventive isolation period amid the coronavirus outbreak fruitfully, the Ministry of Culture launched a reading contest titled “Reading Marathon” on Tuesday.

The initiative seeks to engage the public, young and old, in an activity that can benefit various segments of the society.

All those who want to make the most of the opportunity can participate in an online open-reading contest on diverse topics of interest through sharing their reading experience with quotes on the online platform of the marathon: https: //engage.moc.gov.sa/marathon.

The portal will receive the readers ’participation in two categories. First is “Little reader,” which is available for young readers who are under the age of 12 years or in partnership with their parents. The second category of the “Big reader” is open for all those over the age of 12 years.

The ministry said that participation is open to all citizens and expatriates in the Kingdom, clarifying that one of the goals of the initiative is to hit 100,000 pages of reading per week.

Readers wishing to participate can record their quotes from the books they read during the marathon period via the dedicated online platform, as well as record the number of pages they read. The number of pages read will be announced on a daily basis, in addition to the publication of quotes on a weekly basis via the online platform in order to invoke interest in everyone and motivate them to read and take advantage of the isolation period in order to develop their knowledge base and linguistic proficiency.

The “Reading Marathon” initiative is part a raft of initiatives launched by the Ministry of Culture and its cultural bodies under a uniform slogan of “Culture in isolation,” in order to invest the period of preventive isolation and enrich the audience with what brings it enjoyment and benefit. These initiatives include the “Theater composition” competition launched by the National Theater; “Literature in isolation” initiative launched by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Authority, in addition to the “Cultural hobbies” initiative and the “Film tonight" launched by the Ministry of Culture to support local content and highlight Saudi creative talents in various cultural fields.