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The National Book Trust (NBT) in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh's State Department of Language, Art, and Culture has organized a nine-day long Shimla Book Fair from June 25 to July 3 in the capital.
Book lovers can visit the book fair at the historic Gaiety Theater and the Ridge Maidan on The Mall Road, which stands right in the heart of Shimla. Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Govind Singh Thakur inaugurated the festival which started on Saturday and would conclude on July 3, 2022. The local readers and buyers are rushing to book fare and are happy that NBT has given a platform to the readers in the hill state. Over 70 stalls of nearly 45 publishers have been installed here. "I am thankful to you for this book festival that has been organized here. I have a close association with NBT and I love reading and now this book festival has good titles and important books here. The lockdown period during COVID-19 has also helped the people to improve their reading habits and it is helping the young people to read more books," said RL Chauhan, a local reader. Young readers from various states who have come for a vacation in Shimla are also taking advantage and buying books from the NBT fair here. "I have come here as a tourist and I got very good books in this Shimla book fair at very cheap and affordable prices. As the theme was written here, citizens read this, it's the country which reads. We are getting peace and knowledge at the same time. We have been inclined to the books during the lockdown period and the habit of reading has increased," said Anmol, a young tourist and reader from Punjab. The NBT director said that as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, this book fair is a kind of festival which includes book reading sessions, cultural performances, drawing competitions and other discussions. "For nine days, it would attract many readers. We have 45 publishers from India and 75 have been installed and we have different sections including the titles of freedom fighters and Children's literature here. We are getting a very good response," said Yuvraj Malik, Director of NBT. Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Education Minister also said that the state government is building libraries in different parts here to inculcate the reading habits in the young minds. "This kind of book fair will be promoted in other parts of the state so that people here can read more books and develop a reading habit," he said. Apart from the book stalls, the tourists are fascinated with the cultural dances and rich cultural heritage here. The tourists are carrying home the good books and also the experience of the culture of the Hill state. (ANI)
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