Book fair ends with record participation

Organisers say over 0.5m people visited exhibition

KARACHI:

The 17th Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) concluded at the Karachi Expo Center on Monday breaking all previous records for the number of visitors.

The immense rush of people at KIBF testifies that people continue to love books. The era of books has not ended, said

Commenting on the success of the five-day annual exhibition, Sindh Education Department Private Institutions Additional Director Rafia Mallah said. However, she said, "it is our fault that we do not develop the interest of children towards books."

KIBF Convener Waqar Mateen while talking to The Express Tribune said that this year's book fair broke all records related to the number of visitors. He said that against the anticipation of 400,000 people in the previous KIBF, over 500,000 people visited the fair in five days.

He said that earlier a special discount of up to 30 per cent was being given on books but in the last day, a discount of up to 70 per cent was given, attracting busloads of students from schools and other educational institutions.

Teachers from government and private educational institutions brought the children to the book fair to enlighten them about the importance of books.

Nabila Abro of seventh grader from Tandojam town had come to the fair with her government school students showing her love for books. Expressing happiness, she said that she and her school mates bought a large number of books from the fair. She urged that such fairs should be organized not only in Karachi but all over Pakistan with a view to promote book culture.

During the exhibition, the students were also offered to receive first aid training. A large number of foreigners also came to buy books on the last day of the exhibition. Students and teachers from Indonesia and China said that it is necessary to read books for research. It was great to see people's attachment to books at the fair, they said.

One stall at the exhibition featured books written by thirteen and fourteen year old children. The books were arranged in highly decorated covers and in an expert manner. There were also books for children written by mothers and housewives belonging to the home school community.

As many as 136 publishers had set up their stalls while around 40 publishing companies from 17 countries also participated at the book fair.

KIBF is held every year since 2005 by Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association (PPBA).

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2022.