‘Book fair in districts will boost reading habits among youth’
As part of the events, the administration also conducted an event ‘Nagai Vaasikirathu (reading)’ on July 30, especially in all educational institutions, encouraging students to pick up the reading habit.
CHENNAI: Thanks to the success of the Chennai Book Fair (CBF), districts like Nagapattinam and Erode have commenced book fairs in their respective districts this month.
The book fair in Nagapattinam, which began on August 1, is set to go on till August 11. “The Nagapattinam district administration is taking various initiatives to promote reading habit among people,” said an official at the Nagapattinam district administration.
As part of the events, the administration also conducted an event ‘Nagai Vaasikirathu (reading)’ on July 30, especially in all educational institutions, encouraging students to pick up the reading habit.
During the 2022 budget session, the TN government announced that the State would be conducting book fairs in all districts, for which the government also allotted Rs 5.6 crore. Like CBF, book fairs in other districts too will be monitored by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI).
A BAPASI member said, “When CBF was only held in Chennai, other regions did not have enough access to good reading material. Conducting the book fair in all districts will encourage the public, especially students, to pick up the reading habit.”
Meanwhile, the book fair in Cuddalore was already held in March. And, as per the recent announcement of Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, a Tamil book fair will also be held from this year in other states/cities such as Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Kerala.
Additionally, a book fair will be conducted internationally in Dubai, Malaysia, and Singapore among others, for which, the Union government has earmarked Rs 2 crore.
