With at least 1.5 crore books for sale, the 42nd edition of Chennai Book Fair got a kickstart in the city Friday evening.
After inaugurating the event, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami asked all parents to start reading books so that they can cultivate the habit in their children.
He was speaking at the fair organised by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) at YMCA, Nandanam. The event will go on till January 20.
There are 820 stalls and over 1.5 crore books across 12 lakh subjects. The fair will be open between 2 pm and 9 pm on weekdays and between 11 am and 9 pm on weekends and public holidays.
Speaking at the event, Palaniswani said that reading habit should be cultivated at a young age. “Children learn from what their parents practise, so all parents should start reading books,” he said. Further, he denoted that there are 4,622 government libraries with 8.49 lakh members and books worth over Rs 8 crore in the State. “People can make use of them,” he added.
Earlier, the Chief Minister opened a statue of Tamil Thai inside the Book Fair premises. Also, he inaugurated the stall of Tamilnadu Textbook Corporation at the fair along with former Education Minister and Chief Whip Vaigai Selvan. Further, Palaniswami presented awards to the best publishers and writers selected by BAPASI from last year’s book fair.
S Vairavan, president, BAPASI, also spoke at the event. He informed, “The book fair will be open till 20 January and has over 800 stalls. Usually, the book fair is open for 12-13 days, but this time, we have increased it to 17 days,” said Vairavan.
| News Today group’s stall attracts many |
 News Today, Maalaisudar and Talk Media group has set its stall at Chennai Book Fair this year. Located at the horizontal bay of the fair, readers can spot us at stall no. 67. Copies of all our publications will be available at the stall. Readers can also enquire about subscriptions of News Today and Maalaisudar. On the first day itself, many youngsters thronged the stall and made eager enquiries. |