Hasina inaugurates opening of Amar Ekushey Book Fair

The prime minister urges publishers to make digital versions of their books as she kicked off Bangladesh’s biggest literary event

Photo: PMO

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair at the Bangla Academy premises .

She urged publishers to publish the books in digital mediums in addition to the usual paperback and hardcovers sold at the fair.

“Children of this generation read books on their tabs and laptops. We should keep up with them if we want to promote our language and literary culture,” she said on Thursday.

She added that the publishers will have a better scope of reaching a wider audience if they publish e-books or translate Bangla books into other languages.

The prime minister also visited several photo galleries and exhibitions honouring the martyrs of the Language Movement after the inaugural ceremony.

During her speech, Hasina also shared her plans to open book fairs at Upazilas to gradually instil the habit of reading books among the people.

Bookworms across Bangladesh will be able to attend the Ekushey Book Fair at the Bangla Academy and Suhrawardy Udyan premises until Feb 29.

The fair is open to the public from 3 pm to 9 pm every weekday, except holidays. It will be open from 11 am to 9 pm on the weekends.