Book lovers browsing through books of their choice at Ekushey Book Fair on Saturday — FE Photo A total of 81 new books were launched on Saturday, the second day of month-long Ekushey Book fair.
Of the total, 20 were novels, followed by 14 poetry-books and 10 story-books, according to data available with the Bangla Academy (BA), which has organised the event.
The fair, taking place on the Academy premises and nearby Suhrawardy Udyan, also drew a good crowd on the day.
During a visit to the venue, a good number of visitors were found roaming across the fairground to find books of their choice.
They came to the venue with close ones, family members and friends.
The fair was open for the visitors from 11.00am to 9.00pm on the day.
However, the significant number of visitors started entering the fair venue in the afternoon, said a publishing house staff at Suhrawardy Udyan.
Nurul Islam, Manager of Palok Publishers, said visitors' turnout was satisfactory on Saturday considering it just the second day of month-long event.
He also said both the number of visitors and sales volume will hopefully rise in the coming days.
"We are about to bring 25 new books on the occasion of this fair", said the official of the publishing house, which deals in books of various categories including novel, poetry books, article, travelogue and books for kids.
Kabir Hossain, a visitor hailing from the city's Bashabo area, said he pays several visits to the Book Fair every year.
"Book fair is a platform for not only for purchasing books, but also a place to meet many intellectuals
at one place," he said.
He also said few of his close ones authored some new books, those are available in stalls across the fair venue. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the fair on Friday afternoon as the chief guest.
The fair this year is taking place in a wider area and extent than that of previous arrangement.
A total of 499 organisations mostly related to publications are showcasing their books in 770 stalls, the figures were 455 and 719 respectively in the last year.
The Bangla Academy has been organising the fair for more than three decades to uphold patriotic values of the 1952 Language Movement and the 1971 Liberation War.
The fair will remain open for the booklovers from 3.00pm to 9.00pm on working days, while the schedule is 11.00am to 9.00pm on public holidays.
© 2025 - All Rights with The Financial Express
