Come one, come all: 330 book stalls welcome Karachiites all under one roof

KARACHI: Book lovers in Karachi have a healthy activity as more than 330 stalls offering books of all kinds under one roof have been set up at the 12th Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF), which kickstarted at the Karachi Expo Centre on Thursday.

The five-day fair features national publishers along with 10 international exhibitors. The 12th KIBF has been organised by the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association (PPBA) in collaboration with the National Book Foundation (NBF).

“Book fairs should be promoted as such activities always focus on promoting reading culture in our children,” said the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of the five day exhibition, Education Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar. Answering the media on why such book fairs are not organised by the government, he said that no one does it alone and even the private sector that organises such fairs needs the government’s help.



Addressing the ceremony, he talked about the importance of books, saying that gadgets and internet have replaced books in many houses. However, he said, battery-driven gadgets are not as reliable as a book. “It is sad to see that we as a country have left books behind while developed countries and inventors of gadgets never left the hard copies,” he said. Lamenting about the empty libraries, the minister said that books are like food to the soul and seeing empty libraries hurts. “Children should be encouraged to read books in their homes,” he added.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar also spoke at the event. “It is good to see books around me in Karachi after a month of seeing garbage all around,” he said. He shared that he will be writing a book on his life revolving around his struggle and mistakes so that people can read and learn from the mistakes he has made.

Answering the media on the issues of Karachi, he said that they are in talks with the CM. He said he regrets that the expected chief guest, Irfan Siddiqui, who is a special adviser to the prime minister on national history and literary heritage, did not make it to the event otherwise he (mayor) would have requested him to ask the PM to announce a project for Karachi. He said that the city is neglected when it comes to budget allocation despite the fact that Karachi contributes 60% to the economy.

KIBF convener Owais Mirza Jamil reminisced about how when the first book fair happened, he was sitting outside and heard a few young mothers dictating their children to buy as many books as they want. He said that this is what still encourages him and his team to organise the fair on this huge scale. Next year, the fair will be held between December 7 and December 11 at the same venue.



Turkish publishers eye Pakistani schools

For the first time, YDS Publishers from Turkey have also participated in the fair with the aim of marketing and not for selling books. Educational coordinator Serhat Tuna told The Express Tribune that they are targeting private and state schools as well to go through their books, which can be used as curriculum books in Pakistan. “We also have software that has all knowledge-based learning in it for primary and secondary school students,” said Tuna. “It includes games, videos, activities and skill books.”

A visitor, Shahenshah Hussain, who was looking for books on Urdu literature at the NBF stall, said that such fairs should not be just for five days but should go on for at least two weeks. “People should be encouraged to visit book fairs and buy books,” he said, adding that he was a regular visitor.

A student of Karachi Public School, Muhammad Hamza, who bought the series of Sherlock Holmes, was happy to get a hand on the original copy, which he was looking for at a discounted price for one year.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2016.