Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor on Friday said the government has taken steps to arrange special book fairs in 16 districts of the country with the participation of 70-80 publishers from Dhaka.
He came up with the disclosure while addressing as the chief guest a function marking the launching of ‘Dhaka Batighar’, a superstore of books, at Banglamotor in the city.
The minister said the government is making efforts to turn book fairs into a place of get-together of booklovers rather than one of so-called public gathering.
He also said the Cultural Affairs Ministry is working with the British Council to make people attracted to libraries. “Libraries will be turned into one-stop centres with all necessary facilities like that in the developed countries,” he added.
Professors Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman and Prof Serajul Islam Choudhury and Director General of Bangla Academy Shamsuzzaman Khan were present as special guests at the programme presided over by Bishwa Sahitya Kendra founder Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed.
‘Dhaka Batighar’ was set up on a space about 5,000 square feet on the 7th floor of the Bishwa Sahitya Kendra Building in Banglamotor.
Designed in the Mughal architectural style, especially like Lalbagh fort, the superstore has over 1 lakh books of more than 10,000 writers on over one hundred topics.
