LAHORE: Mrs Haroon is busy sifting through bookstalls at about 2am in Expo Centre where the first Big Bad Wolf Book Sale is happening these days.

“It is amazing to see a book fair that is open round the clock for 11 days. I have not seen or visited an event like this in the past with more than one million books on various topic of the world available to you. I am also astonished that the books are being sold at 50 to 90pc discount,” she shares her views about the book sale with Dawn.

She, however, is a tad disappointed for being unable to find books of Pakistani and Indian authors.

“I have not seen a stall of the local books and local authors and most of the available books are of the writers who are not from this region. I have looked for Punjabi and Urdu books but in vain. I had a plan to purchase books on Pakistani history and culture.”

Mr Haroon, who was among the few visitors at the book sale at 2am, has a suggestion for the organisers that though such events should be held on a regular basis but books of the local authors should also be there.

Due to the unavailability of the local authors, the book sale could not attract as many buyers and readers as other such book fairs do and the number of visitors remained thin.

However, the visitors were seen appreciating the event and the initiative for enjoyable, round-the-clock book shopping, which is a unique experience for the book lovers in Lahore.

Another visitor, Taimor Khan, says he had learned from his cousin about the book sale who also told him that it was open at night.

“It feels amazing to visit the book sale in the wee hours. I will do some shopping at the stalls before going out of the city early morning,” he says.

He expresses support for such type of activities for readers in the city as they improve book reading culture and promote education.

The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale has been under way in Hall 3 of the Expo Centre since April 19 and it will end at 11:59pm on April 29 (today). Entry to the sale is free for 24 hours. The administration has set up 100 book stalls with more than one million books on the categories of fiction, romance, crime, thriller, non-fiction, novels, business, art and design, cookbooks, and many more. A huge portion of the sale has been dedicated for the books and activity material for children.

Before the start of the sale, hundreds of students from different educational institutions were given a two-day training to manage stalls in three shifts to keep the sale open round the clock.

A salesperson, Nighat, from a private university, says most of the people visit the sale during the daytime and evening but the turnout at night is very low.

She says people visiting coming to the sale mostly belong to elite and upper classes of Lahore, having the purchasing power.

“I have seen people purchasing books for around Rs5000 to Rs30,000,” she adds.

She says the sale is giving the maximum discount and it is attracting the readers and the customers who register themselves at the book sale can also avail up to 90pc discount on two books.

Big Bad Wolf Book Sale Chief Executive Officer Owais Ahmed says they have witnessed slow sale in the beginning but it gradually picked up, especially on weekends.

“The number of visitors declined on working days, especially at night but I am happy with the response of the public.”

To Mr Ahmed, the book reading trend is declining in the city he claims to have received a good response and plan to continue holding such types of sales in the future.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2019