كِتَابٌ فِي سَيَّارَةِ الْأُجْرَةِ

يَاسِر مِسْلَط سَائِقُ سَيَّارَةِ أُجْرَةٍ فِي الْأُرْدُنِّ، وَعُمْرُهُ سِتُّونَ سَنَةً. قَبْلَ سَنَةٍ تَقْرِيبًا، صَارَتْ سَيَّارَتُهُ مَكْتَبَةً صَغِيرَةً. فِي السَّيَّارَةِ كُتُبٌ كَثِيرَةٌ لِلرُّكَّابِ الْمَشْغُولِينَ. يَرْكَبُ الرَّاكِبُ السَّيَّارَةَ، وَيَخْتَارُ كِتَابًا. وَفِي الطَّرِيقِ وَالزِّحَامِ، يَقْرَأُ بَدَلًا مِنَ النَّظَرِ إِلَى هَاتِفِهِ. وَإِذَا أَحَبَّ الْكِتَابَ، يَأْخُذُهُ مَجَّانًا. اسْمُ الْفِكْرَةِ «مَكْتَبَةُ التَّاكْسِي». بَدَأَتْهَا الْمَكْتَبَةُ الْوَطَنِيَّةُ الْأُرْدُنِّيَّةُ فِي سَنَةِ ٢٠٢٢. فِيهَا الْيَوْمَ خَمْسَةُ سَائِقِينَ. وَأَعْطَوُا النَّاسَ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ سَبْعِمِئَةِ كِتَابٍ. وَعِنْدَمَا تَنْتَهِي الْكُتُبُ، يَذْهَبُ السَّائِقُ إِلَى الْمَكْتَبَةِ، وَيَأْخُذُ كُتُبًا جَدِيدَةً. وَالْهَدَفُ أَنْ تَصِيرَ الْقِرَاءَةُ عَادَةً عِنْدَ النَّاسِ. يُحِبُّ يَاسِرٌ الْكُتُبَ كَثِيرًا. بَدَأَ يَقْرَأُ وَعُمْرُهُ عَشْرُ سَنَوَاتٍ. شَجَّعَهُ أَخُوهُ الْكَبِيرُ، رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ، وَكَانَ مُعَلِّمًا لِلُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ. يَقُولُ يَاسِرٌ: الْكُتُبُ لَيْسَتْ لِلرُّفُوفِ، هِيَ لِأَيْدِي النَّاسِ. وَالْكُتُبُ تَأْخُذُهُ إِلَى عَوَالِمَ أُخْرَى. وَيَقُولُ: أَعْطَتْنِي الْكُتُبُ الْكَثِيرَ، وَأُرِيدُ أَنْ أُعْطِيَ النَّاسَ أَيْضًا.

Yaser Mislat is a taxi driver in Jordan, and he is sixty years old. About a year ago, his car became a small library. In the car there are many books for busy passengers. A passenger gets into the car and chooses a book. And on the road and in the traffic, he reads instead of looking at his phone. And if he likes the book, he takes it for free. The idea is called “the Taxi Library”. The National Library of Jordan started it in 2022. Today it has five drivers. And they have given people more than seven hundred books. And when the books run out, the driver goes to the library and takes new books. And the aim is for reading to become a habit for people. Yaser loves books very much. He started reading when he was ten years old. His older brother, may God have mercy on him, encouraged him; he was an Arabic teacher. Yaser says: books are not for shelves; they are for people’s hands. And books take him to other worlds. And he says: books have given me a lot, and I want to give to people to