In Bangladesh there are two main book fairs per year: the Dhaka Book Fair sponsored and arranged by the National Book Centre, and the Ekushe Boi Mela arranged by the Bangla Academi. The former was started from January 1, 1996, and the latter had started long before. Both the book fairs are famous and have attracted the attention of book lovers countrywide. The Dhaka Book Fair, by the way, has been internationally known and will most likely be very popular within only a few years.
Background
The Dhaka Book Fair is, as has already been mentioned, arranged by the National Book Centre. It starts on the first day of January each year and normally lasts for fifteen days. This book fair, unlike the Ekushe Boi Mela, encourages the involvement of book commpanies or publishers from all over the world. This new feature of this book fair has, undoubtedly, made it more enriched and attracive. While the Ekushe Boi Mela with its long tradition is also very famous for its venue and traditional value.
My visit to the book fair: On January 10, 1996, I visited the Dhaka Book Fair. No sooner had my car reached the parking place that I could easily see the light, hear the humming buzz of people. I was thrilled with pleasure. I bought tickets for me and my friends and got into the fair. What a sight! Oh, unforgettable. It was the night. The stalls and pavillions wore baroquely ornated with light and various types of designs. First, we visited a number of stalls. Each stall was enriched with various types of books. We also visited some foreign book-stalls. The accumulation of their books fascinated us all. I bought seven books from a number of stalls and pavilions. My friends each also bought some books of their own choice. So many books! So many stalls! So much light and decoration! So many people! That the fair was a success was proved by the number of visitors. Hundreds of people visited the fair all day long from 11 am. to 8:30 p. m. The visit to the fair broadened my experience and added to my pleasure.
The necessity of the book fair: Book fairs like this is very essential for people of such a developing country like Bangladesh. We all know that the literacy rate of our country is around 31 percent, a very small figure. Again, those who are literate seldom read books of their own accord. Such fairs, obviously, increase the number of readers and book-lovers. The nation which does not read books cannot prosper. We need to read more and more and learn accordingly. We all should know more than what we do. We should know what we know as well as what we do not know. Knowledge actually makes us wise enough to be happy in life. And book fairs go a long way in building such consciousness.
Conclusion
Book fairs are an excellent idea of the modern age. We all should bolster the establishment of book fairs more than two times a year. We all should buy books and read them.