LARKANA: Intellectuals, writers, teachers, students and general public were among the book enthusiasts flocking to the stalls set up in a book fair jointly organised by the district administration and Larkana Municipal Corpora­tion (LMC) in Jinnah­bagh on Thursday.

Larkana Mayor Khair Moham­med Shaikh inaugurated the four-day fair where the Sindh culture department, Sindhi Adabi Board, Oxford University Press, Sindhica Academy, Peacock Publisher’s Nao Niyapo Publishers, Book World, Kanwal Publications and other publishing houses set up their stalls.

A good number of book lovers thronged the inaugural ceremony and went round the stalls to purchase books of their choice.

The available books covered different subjects like history, literature [English, Sindhi and Urdu], linguistics, current affairs etc.

A variety of children’s books along with textbooks and translations also attracted the visitors.

Most of the publishers participating in the fair are offering 50 per cent discount on books, but certain ones were seen giving discounts according to their suitability. Majority of the voracious readers kept roaming to find books of their choice.

Many of the visitors interviewed said that though the efforts were good, the need was to further the trend and inviting bigger and more famous publishers from Lahore, Karachi and other areas to give a vast choice to visitors.

Collection for the students studying medicine, engineering and computer science was very little. They demanded sale of textbooks at reduced prices.

They said that such book fairs should be made a regular feature of the LMC and must be annexed in the agenda of the district administration with the view to providing a chance to students and other readers to have a variety of books at their doorsteps.

They suggested that those exhibitions should also be held in medical universities, on big campuses of engineering universities in Larkana and even at the taluka level.

They should be organised at regular intervals in the district headquarters of Larkana division, they said. This would help develop reading habit in the young generation, they added.

Kamran Shaikh and Babar Kalhoro at Sindhica Academy’s book stall said that a big crowd of visitors was witnessed at the inauguration.

English dictionaries of OUP, though expensive, remained the focus of readers. Shah jo Risalo, old history books published by Sindhi Adabi Board, the Sindh culture department had attracted the attention of the visitors.

Books of Shaikh Ayaz and Amar Jalil, travelogues of Altaf Shaikh, history books compiled by Dr Nabi Bakhsh Baloch, old bulky and rare two-volume book on Moenjodaro of Sir John Marshal was also on sale. Dr Mubarak Ali’s history books and translations of the books covering Sindh’s history by Atta Mohammed Bhimbhro, autobiographies and other titles also grabbed the attention of the visitors.

In the evening children were seen searching for their favourite books. The fair will continue till Dec 8.

Published in Dawn, December 6th, 2019