'Reassert value of books'
New reading club launched in Sadr City to revive cultural life
BAGHDAD — A group of young residents in Baghdad’s Sadr City have launched a new reading club in partnership with the City Youth Library, aiming to organize bi-monthly cultural events and promote reading in an area long affected by cultural marginalization.
The initiative will host lectures, seminars, and book displays covering literature, science, and the arts, while also inviting authors, researchers, and academics from within and outside the city to engage with participants.
Furat Ali, a member of the club’s administration, told 964media the effort builds on earlier initiatives from 2017 and 2018. “We launched this initiative in response to the decline in interest in reading and to reassert the value of books in society,” he said. “We chose Sadr City specifically due to its cultural marginalization and are working through this club to revive its cultural activity.”
Ali emphasized that the club is fully independent and unaffiliated with any political, religious, or party organization.
Hamed Al-Maliki, an economics professor, welcomed the move and said reading should be viewed as essential to individual and societal development. “Society, especially young people, should practice it systematically,” he said. “Organized reading deepens understanding, improves problem-solving, and contributes to realistic solutions when it is guided and not random.”
Academic Shamkhi Jabr praised the initiative as a key development in Sadr City’s growing youth-led cultural movement. “The city’s youth have a clear civic motivation, and their ability to launch cultural events sets them apart from other areas in Baghdad,” he said. “Promoting reading is not a luxury—it is essential for producing knowledge, which in turn gives individuals intellectual authority to play active roles in society.”
