LAHORE: In the age of information technology, almost all publishers sell books online round the year now and books are sent through post not only within the city but also to far off areas and towns. In such a situation, what does a book fair mean to the regular readers? This question can only be answered if one visits the Lahore International Book Fair (LIBF) at the Expo Centre in Johar Town and finds the rush of people sifting bookstalls to lay their hands on the reads of their choice.

“I come to the book fair to look for rare books on Islamic art and history. Such books are not easy to find in the market,” says Dr Khizer Ali, a medical practitioner from Lahore, who was looking for the books of his choice at Rohilla Archives and Books. He says he comes to the festival every year and waits for it.

Dr Saud Rohilla is an artist and researcher at the Punjab University’s College of Art and Design. He says it’s the second year that he has brought his books to the festival. He has collected books on his own on art, history and culture and sells them besides doing his research work. He is content with the number of book enthusiasts and bibliophiles visiting the festival stall and buying books from his stall as well, rejecting the common impression of decline in the number of serious readers in the country. “People visit my stall looking for the niche of art and culture.”

Rohilla has got a variety of books, ranging from low-price to very expensive. The most expensive book that he has got is the 12 volume of Brill Encyclopedia of Islam which he hopes to sell at Rs0.6m. Another of his prized vintage books is the 1969 edition of Amal-e-Chughtai priced at Rs150,000.

The annual event is happening at Expo Centre until 9th

Naimutullah, who must be in his 70s, was asking for a book by Adlous Huxley at the Siddiqui Vintage Book Stall. He reads everything from Elif Shafak to D.H. Lawrence but it was Huxley that is looking for, saying that he has got more into spirituality with age. “That’s more appropriate for my age,” he says with a smug smile.

Naimutullah, a farmer with native land in Pattoki, tells Dawn that he used to run a book club that he started in 1986 from Main Market, Gulberg, then shifted to Defence before its end about 15 years back. He says the book club used to have a regular membership and the members could borrow books on myriad topics from the club. Naimattullah felt disappointed at not finding Huxley’s book that he was looking for, rejecting the other works of the author that were offered to him by the salesperson.

The best aspect of this book fair is that you can find something rare and out-of-the box every time you visit it. This time, this author found a whole collection of vinyl records of Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi’s ghazals, Talal Mahmood at the Siddiqui Vintage Books Stall. The records are by the EMI and Shalimar Recording Company.

Mehmood Hashim Chaudhry comes to the LIBF from Rawalpindi every year. He also looks for the books on the topics of his choice, mostly history but not the ones that he can buy anytime from the market. He found a book on the Gurkhas from the time when they were being recruited in the British army. However, he feels disappointed to see a large number of books on religion.

Saeed Ahmad, a Punjabi scholar, is holding the only stall of Punjabi books, mostly on classic poets. The best part of his works is that he has made the classics easy for the young generation of Punjab. The highlight of his cheap books is the pictorial dictionary of English and Punjabi words for children to familiarize them with their native language. The books at his stall were also the cheapest.

Sanjh Publishers also has books of contemporary Punjabi literature along with Urdu books. It has recently published the collected works of Punjabi legendary poet Shiv Kumar Batalavi with meanings of difficult words.

Ali who has brought books from Karachi says there were more buyers on the opening day (Wednesday) compared to Thursday, saying that rush would increase after Juma prayers on Friday. And Saturday and Sunday are expected to be the busiest days with the most number of people as it always happens in the book fair.

Just like the previous years, the biggest stall is that of Readings that have the biggest number of English language books at the book fair along with others like Jhelum Book Corner, Oxford, Sang-e-Meel, Fiction House etc.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2025