Visitor turnout high on second day of Ekushey Book Fair

Taking advantage of the weekend, a large number of visitors thronged the grounds of Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Friday, the second day of the month-long book fair. However, the crowd seemed to prefer the Suhrawardy Udyan-side of the fair and the number of people visiting stalls on the Bangla Academy side was relatively smaller. The crowd was significantly bigger during the first half of the day, but waned a little by the end of the day. “We expect a huge reader turnout as it is Friday. The fair started only on Friday; it has only been a day. We hope the number of readers and visitors will increase within a week; you might see a larger crowd next weekend,” said Palash Das, an official of book store Pathak Samabesh. Ananya Publication’s publisher, Manirul Haque, said: “This book fair is a place of get-together for readers and authors. This year could very well be the best version of the fair ever. However, we want bad books to be removed from the fair, and only good books to be displayed and sold.” However, not all the stalls were prepared to cater to the eager book lovers; construction of many stalls on the fair grounds are still incomplete. Like every year, the fair organizers have set up “Children’s Hour” on Fridays from 11am till 1pm at the Children’s Corner in Suhrawardy Udyan. During the Children’s Hour, different events focused on children – from puppet shows to book reading – will be held, which children can attend and enjoy. On Friday, during the Children’s Hour, the visiting children were introduced to and fascinated by characters from Sisimpur, a popular TV show for children that has puppets as main characters. Many parents said they found the fair to be a good place to teach their children about the history of the Language Movement. Rawshan Ara, a resident of Azimpur, told the Dhaka Tribune: “As an avid reader, I always prefer buying books from Ekushey Book Fair. I have bought books for my daughter from here to show her the significance of the fair.” A first-grader named Marjani Jannat, who came with her parents from Rayerbagh, said she as excited to visit the fair. “I like reading stories, so my mother has bought me some story books,” she told the Dhaka Tribune, excited with her new purchases. Switch Foundation Bangladesh launched a voluntary program at the fair to provide aid to visitors with physical disabilities – drive them on wheel chairs from TSC or Doyel Chattar to the book fair entrance as the road between TSC and Doyel Chattar road has been blocked. On Friday, 55 new books were released at the fair. One of the books, an autobiography titled “Chowdhury Zafar Ullah Sharafat Bolchi,” was penned by renowned sports commentator Chowdhury Zafar Ullah Sharafat. “Readers can learn about the poor situation of football and also the emerging sides of cricket by reading my autobiography,” Zafar Ullah said during the unveiling ceremony. The book fair is open for all from 3pm to 9pm on weekdays, from 11am to 9pm during the weekend. On February 21, it will be open from 8am to 9pm.