A rendezvous of booklovers

Be it a weekend or work day, readers from all age groups are rushing to the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, at the MA Aziz Stadium Gymnasium premises in the port city, since its inauguration on February 20.

Visiting the fair premises over the last few days, this correspondent saw large crowds gathering in front of different stalls -- some were shifting through the pages, while others were looking for books of their choice.

Volunteers were seen standing at the entrance of the fair with hand sanitisers, urging visitors to wear a face mask.

Himel Dutta, a sixth grader, visited the fair with his father on a weekend. He kept asking his father to buy him some comics at a stall.

Himel's father smilingly said, "I had to buy two comic books for him. I got myself an essay book and a novel too."

Meanwhile, eleventh-grader Senjuti Chowdhury visited the fair with her friends. They were all looking at books at Baatighar's stall. Senjuti said she had come to buy Biswajit Chowdhury's story book "Patharer Murtir Moto".

Bablu Chowdhury, a sales official at Baatighar, said demand for novels and books on Bangabandhu was the highest at their stall, adding that daily sales overall was satisfactory.

Contacted, Nisar Uddin Ahmed Monju, convener of the book fair, said necessary steps have been taken for the overall security of the fair. Besides, instructions have been given to abide by the health rules. The fair grounds are under CCTV observation, he said.

The book fair will continue till March 10. A total of 95 publishers from Dhaka and Chattogram are participating at the fair. The fair is running from 3:00pm to 9:00pm every day and from 10:00am to 9:00pm on holidays.