Literacy and learning: Month-long book fair launched in 11 cities

Books aren’t just about learning, they are fun too, say organisers to kids.

LAHORE:

Aiming to entice more young readers by portraying books not just as sources of learning but also of fun and entertainment, organisers launched the month-long Oxford Book Fair 2012 in 11 cities and 14 locations across the country on Monday.

The annual fair is being held in Karachi, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, Islamabad, Quetta, Abbottabad, Sargodha and Lahore. “We want to create a hype around books to attract people back to reading,” said Oxford University Press Pakistan Managing Director Ameena Saiyid. “For the convenience of our readers we have stretched the fair to over a period of a month in all the cities.”

She said that several schools were planning trips to the fair. “That’s been the most positive impact of our fairs and I think in a lot of schools the culture of reading is now growing immensely,” she said.

The OUP has been holding a book fair annually for 18 years. Saiyid said there were now more parents visiting the fair with their children than before. “Readership has increased over the years and we want that trend to continue,” she said.

The book fair at various locations offers recreational activities for children including colouring, mathematics and spelling competitions and arts and crafts. A special feature in Karachi, where the fair is being held at four different locations, will be the ‘Dosti Kitabon Say’ (Friendship with Books) session, at which artist Khaled Anam will sing songs and read stories to children.

Saiyid said the organisers had aimed at making the fair fun for kids. “We want the reading and learning experience to be fun and interactive for children,” she said.

The book fair is also expected to go to Gilgit and Larkana towards the end of October. Saiyid said owing to limited resources in these areas, the fair would be going to the two cities in the last two weeks of the month.

Currently in Sindh, the Oxford Mobile Bookshop will also be visiting several cities where the book fair is being held. Saiyid said the mobile bookshop will spend some time parked at the Shah Nawaz Bhutto Library in Larkana.

Readers will be introduced to a new series of graphic novels for children aged 10 and above featuring Pakistani role models. The first book in the series features charity worker Abdul Sattar Edhi.

A book on display titled ‘Just Like the Other Children’ teaches kids to respect others with disabilities. “We hope to offer moral lessons to children through these books,” said Saiyid.

Lahore rush

The first day of the book fair in Lahore was busy, with a large number of college students visiting the Oxford bookshop in Mini Market from the morning. Anas Ali Mirza, the shop’s assistant manager, told The Express Tribune that he was anticipating a large turnout later in the day.

“It’s the first day so people are still getting to know about it,” he said. “Children have just started coming in but we are looking forward to a large crowd by the evening,” said Mirza, who was experiencing his first annual OUP book fair.

The bookshop is offering a range of discounts: 17 per cent on language books, 22.5 per cent on curriculum books, 20 per cent on imported books, 25 per cent on general books and up to 30 per cent on dictionaries.

“My guess is that our dictionaries will sell like hot cakes. We usually have a high demand for them,” said Mirza.

The bookshop has a designated stall for illustrated children’s books, each priced at Rs30. The three-book Tilism-i-Hoshruba series and four-book Alif Laila series are on sale at a 25 per cent discount. Each book is originally priced between Rs795 and Rs895.

Sales staff at OUP have visited schools across the city to spread the word about the book fair, said Mirza.

The book fair will continue from 10am to 8pm every day till October 31.

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