KARACHI: More than 7,000 book lovers of all ages have so far visited the colourful book exhibition arranged by the National Book Centre of Pakistan at the Arts Council to celebrate the first National Book Festival. The sections attracting most crowds are Islamiat, Biography, Juveniles, Fiction and the collection of rare printed books, the oldest of which dates from 1803 AD. About a score of them, including books on Astronomy, Biology, Medicine and Engineering, are a selection from the period before 1857. There are books in all sizes, four of them the size of a newspaper with multi-colour illustrations. The total number of titles displayed is about 5,000; all published in Pakistan.

There are well represented sections of Bengali, English, Pushtu and Sindhi publications, besides the main display of Urdu books. Punjabi and Balochi too have token representation. More than 60 publishers have taken part in this exhibition and books for children are the favourites at the sale counter established outside the exhibition’s gate. It is doing good business at 10 per cent discount to each customer. During the morning hours, reserved for school parties and ladies, more than 20 school parties accompanied with teachers have visited the stalls.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014