An expanse of knowledge: Thousands of books put up to pique the interest of young minds

The books will be donated to school libraries across the valley.

SWAT: A book exhibition here on Sunday aimed to highlight the importance of reading, especially to young minds. The exhibition pulled in a large crowd, with book lovers appreciating the opportunity to have a look at the large collection of books on literature, politics, sciences and general knowledge.

Students, the exhibition’s target demographic, were seen perusing through books at various stalls, with several commenting on increasing their general knowledge.

“It’s great to see so many books besides course books,” said Al-Madina Model School student, Faisal.

Abu Bakr, a 10th grader, commended the organisers on the initiative, saying that the exhibition served as an excellent platform to demonstrate the wealth of knowledge “out there”.

The thousands of books in the fair will be donated to schools across Swat. A number of school principals had come to attend the exhibition to select books for their library.

“No doubt the event is a healthy one, cultivating an important link between students and reading. I expect such events to be organised on a more frequent basis in our war-stricken area,” said Hussain, the principal of a private school.

The exhibition was organised by the Swat Education Development Society, Private School Management Babuji, Zama Swat and The Asia Foundation.

“Our main objective was to propagate the importance of reading in contrast with the preaching of war. We are trying to replace that ugly and terrifying culture into one of peace and development,” said Private School Management Association President Sadiq Aziz.

Swat Education Development Society Chairperson Fazal Rabbi said, “We will continue holding such events, [so that we can] eliminate the distance between books and students.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 2^nd,  2012.