Rabat Designated as UNESCO World Book Capital for 2026

Rabat, Morocco, has been selected as the UNESCO World Book Capital for 2026. The title transfers from Rio de Janeiro and starts on April 23, 2026. The program includes efforts to combat illiteracy in underserved communities, promote reading among women and children, and support the local publishing industry.

The initiative aims to integrate reading into public spaces such as parks and cafes. Rabat was chosen due to its literary scene and role as a cultural crossroads. The city hosts the International Book and Publishing Fair, known as SIEL, which is one of Africa's largest book fairs.

The SIEL is scheduled from April 30 to May 10, 2026. It features more than 700 exhibitors from around 50 countries. This year's event coincides with the World Book Capital designation and includes France as the guest of honor. France's participation highlights Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux and seeks to enhance partnerships between French and Moroccan writers, publishers, and translators.

The fair will also focus on Ibn Battuta and the Moroccan diaspora. Events include seminars, panels, poetry readings, podcasts, and discussions on Arabic children's literature.

Book lovers can explore bookstalls in Rabat's Medina. One stall, operated by bookseller Mohammed Aziz, contains thousands of secondhand books. Visitors may find rare items and interact with tourists, students, and locals.

The Museum Mohammed VI of Modern Art offers exhibitions of Moroccan and African works. It presents a visual history of 20th-century Morocco, covering periods from colonial-era realism to modern abstraction and contemporary social commentary. The museum includes displays on identity, modernity, and transition, along with study spaces, paintings, and photography.

A book and gift store at the museum sells literature related to its collections and modern art.

The National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco holds over 200,000 titles and 80,000 rare documents and manuscripts. These cover more than 1,000 years of Moroccan, Arabic, and Islamic heritage, including books, photographs, and maps on intellectual, legal, and religious history.

The library provides digital archives, accessibility features for the visually impaired, and a 300-seat auditorium for research and cultural events. More than half of the library's contents are digitized as part of the Digital 2030 strategy to increase access to heritage across Morocco.

The facility includes a bookstore, cafeteria, and prayer room.

Visitors can read in cultural cafes within the Kasbah des Oudayas. One cafe, known as Cafe des Oudayas and previously as Cafe Maure, offers views over the Bou Regreg River. It features tiled benches and shaded areas, where patrons can have Moroccan mint tea, orange juice, and pastries such as cornes de gazelle.