Reading is the ability of identifying and recognizing printed or written symbol that stimulate the recall of familiar concepts.

We, the Maldivians are a group of people living in the centre of the Indian Ocean passing the experience gained from one generation to the next and beyond in the same familiar way that the rest of the world did-by writing done by the senior generation and by reading , done by the junior generation. In our culture the means of communicating with each other were limited due to the surrounding seas, which were rough at times. Beating of the drum did not reach very far, if the winds were not helpful. Conch-shell could be heard within the confines of the small islands only. But the written words though scribbled on the palm leaves reached its destination and conveyed what has to be delivered for more efficiently than all the other methods. The written words could be referred long after the writer passed away. Therefore writing words and forwarding the message to the receiving end was accepted by the entire society as an indispensability. 

We know from the archaeological evidence from various parts of the country which have inscriptions on them that our language had a written form from very ancient times. At all times in our past, we were certain over the language of our country. There never was a segment of our society, which spoke a different tongue or did not accept the language as our own language.

People who have visited our country and spend sometime have noted and written that our children of both sexes are required to read Quran and their lessons are begun at the age of three years.  This shows even at earlier we were interested in reading and promoting the habit among our children.

Coming to more modern times it was noted of the services rendered  to Maldivian education and literature in particular by the late Ameer Mohamed Amin Didi, who was the first President of the Maldives. In his period he brought notable changes in every aspect of our life specially in education. It was he, who laid the foundation stone of the girls education in Maldives, that we are proud of today.
 

2. Services provided by National Library of Maldives

We had great writers, poets and orators who had contributed to give us the knowledge and awakening that we enjoy today. 

Our libraries play an important role in promoting the habit of reading, disseminating knowledge, further education and spending the leisure time profitably and pleasurably. Almost all our schools provide an effective library service to the students, teachers and the administrative staff.

The school librarians play an important role to promote reading habit among the students who would take reading as a habit when they grow up. 

Our library ( The National Library of Maldives ) was founded in 1945. Since then it has been growing day by day in regard to its collection, services and facilities in order to meet the various needs of our customers. We could claim for ourselves the proud title of being The National Library, as we are the oldest and most universal institution of its kind in the Maldives. 

Some of the facilities and services available right now in The National Library are:
 

• Local automated database
• Internet facilities
• Lending, Reference & Reading Service
• Photocopying service
• Children's Library Service
• Current Awareness service

The National Library has a fairly good collection of Arabic and Urdhu books besides Dhivehi ( Maldivian Language ) and English books. The English section contains more than 31,000 books, both fiction and non-fiction. A section for reference is also available for those who want the service. Dhivehi, Arabic and Urdhu sections  contains about 37790, 1595 and 975 respectively. In addition the library holds bound periodical volumes, reports, manuscripts, journals and other serials. Newspapers both local and foreign is available for reading in the library. Press cutting files and pamphlets are kept for special reference.

We serve the public from Saturday to Thursday from 8.00 am – 9.00 pm except on holidays.  Our aim is to facilitate our customers the maximum benefit from our resources and services.
 

3. Conclusion

At present Maldives is a country with a very high literacy rate. Our people under the leadership of our President His Excellency Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who inspires us to seek knowledge, skills, values and attitudes. Educational facilities are existed even on the remote islands of Maldives. His Excellency Maumoon Abdul Gayoom takes a special interest in teaching people how to live in dignity to continue learning, and to improve the quality of life. 

We are gradually becoming aware that no development process is possible to sustain without human development. It is the betterment of man's life and mind that should be the ultimate focus of all development. 

 We believe that our aims in life can only be achieved by developing our mind through reading.