By Abid Usman
ISLAMABAD: The Diamond Jubilee ‘Kitab Mela’ (Book Fair), jointly organized by the Information Service Academy (ISA) and the Directorate of Electronic Media & Publications (DEMP), attracted a large number of visitors from various walks of life, especially youth, media, senior officials and socialites here on Wednesday.
Secretary Information and Broadcasting Shahera Shahid inaugurated the day long exhibition and had a round of various stalls. Over two thousand books covering history, culture, sports, tourism and fiction about Pakistan were on display.
The books were provided by “Mr. Books”, Islamabad whose Managing Director, Abdullah Yousuf also attended the event.
Directorate of Electronic Media & Publications set up its own stall, exhibiting latest of its publications and digitally mastered photo collections. The national songs and documentaries filmed by DEMP in relation to the Independence Day festivities were also screened on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, the secretary Information and Broadcasting said the book exposition was part of a series of events organized to highlight the 75th birth anniversary of the country.
She underlined the need for making all out efforts to revive and promote book reading culture in the society, especially in the educational institutions and among the youth.
Youth, she said, had a critical role to play in nation building, and for that they needed knowledge, and books were still a good source of knowledge despite the fact that the internet and emerging forms of media had occupied a lot of space in the field of information and education.
She said the Ministry of Information was ready to make its due contribution for promoting book culture. She lauded the efforts of ISA and DEMP in putting up a good show in the form of book exposition. She also thanked “Mr. Books” for setting up book stalls for the event.
Directors General ISA and Directorate of Electronic Media & Publications Saeed Javed and Imrana Wazir dilated on the background of the book fair saying the exhibition was envisaged as part of efforts to highlight the 75th Anniversary events, and to promote book reading habit among the youth.
That was why a large number of youth have been invited to attend the event, they added.
Talking to media on the occasion, Abdullah Yousuf from “Mr. Books” appreciated the initiative of ISA and DEMP and said his Book House was highly pleased to provide books for the special exhibition.
Later at the award ceremony, DGs ISA and DEMP presented special mementos to Chief Guest, Secretary I&B Shahera Shahid and Abdullah Yousuf, owner of “Mr. Books”.
The invitees evinced deep interest in the books on display and eagerly purchased the ones they liked the most with the majority going for books on history, sports and culture of Pakistan. Others opted for fiction and books on social issues. Special 10% discount was offered on all categories of books and the guests made good use of it.
