UNB, Dhaka :
As World Book and Copyright Day was celebrated on Monday to promote book reading and collection, experts and intellectuals called for a greater campaign to increase the number of libraries across the country.
According to Unesco, Bangladesh has an adult literacy rate of 72.76 percent among its more than 16 crore people. In a sharp contrast to this literacy rate, the country has only 70 public libraries, according to the website of Department of Public Libraries. Mentioning that there are lack of healthy recreational facilities in society, Professor Emeritus of Dhaka University Serajul Islam Choudhury, thinks that a library movement is needed.
“Books are always important. This personal companion of ours teaches us to think about people and society. It enables us to be sensitive and empathetic towards people. But, in our country, we need more libraries where cultural gatherings will be possible centering books,” he told UNB adding that voices should be raised on this day, demanding more libraries in areas. Another Professor Emeritus, Anisuzzaman also echoed the same sentiment. Stressing the importance of a movement to build more libraries, Anisuzzaman told UNB that the libraries set up in rural areas at private initiatives are not in good shape for lack of patronage. Though there are a few district and division-based public libraries, the professor said the government should now work to build libraries at the upazila level and then union level. According to him, these days school and college students are more concerned about passing the exams rather than
gaining knowledge from their textbooks. “Teachers and parents have to look on the practice of moral values of children,” he said while claiming the necessity of reading habit to build moral values among people. Meanwhile, Abdus Sattar Khan, founder of the ‘Village Library Movement’, has been working since 2006 for establishing libraries in every village of the country and his work, he claimed, has gained a momentum. His initial journey was not so smooth but the campaign has so far managed to build 54 libraries in 54 villages with the help of others. His dream is to build a library in each of the village of the country. “The village library movement is not just about reading books or building readership. It’s also about building a centre to identify the problems of villages and solve them from the libraries,” he said. On the other hand, the world day was also about copyright of books.
Dipankar Das, the owner of Baatighar, one of the largest bookstores of the country, thinks that as the book publication has yet not become an industry of the country, it is a challenge for the publishers.
“Readership must be increased to develop the sector and students are needed to be encouraged about reading books for this,” he said adding that the market should be made larger to encourage the publishers.
Mentioning piracy as another challenge, Dipankar told UNB that the government must put greater emphasis on this matter. “Stronger monitoring is needed to fight the challenge,” he added. Although there has been basic change in reading habit, paperback books still dominate the reader’s choice and attract the readers amid the extensive digital revolution of books. The information provided by Bangla Academy showed that the publication of books has nearly doubled and the sales of books have increased by almost seven times compared to five years ago.
A total of 4591 books came out during the Boi Mela in February last and books were sold amounting to Tk 71 crore (estimated), while the number of released books was 2,963 and sales amounted to Tk 11 crore (estimated) in 2013. The number of published books during the fair in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 stood at 2995, 3700, 3444 and 3646 respectively, while the estimated total sales were Tk 17 crore, Tk 22 crore, Tk 40 crore and Tk 66 crore.
As World Book and Copyright Day was celebrated on Monday to promote book reading and collection, experts and intellectuals called for a greater campaign to increase the number of libraries across the country.
According to Unesco, Bangladesh has an adult literacy rate of 72.76 percent among its more than 16 crore people. In a sharp contrast to this literacy rate, the country has only 70 public libraries, according to the website of Department of Public Libraries. Mentioning that there are lack of healthy recreational facilities in society, Professor Emeritus of Dhaka University Serajul Islam Choudhury, thinks that a library movement is needed.
“Books are always important. This personal companion of ours teaches us to think about people and society. It enables us to be sensitive and empathetic towards people. But, in our country, we need more libraries where cultural gatherings will be possible centering books,” he told UNB adding that voices should be raised on this day, demanding more libraries in areas. Another Professor Emeritus, Anisuzzaman also echoed the same sentiment. Stressing the importance of a movement to build more libraries, Anisuzzaman told UNB that the libraries set up in rural areas at private initiatives are not in good shape for lack of patronage. Though there are a few district and division-based public libraries, the professor said the government should now work to build libraries at the upazila level and then union level. According to him, these days school and college students are more concerned about passing the exams rather than
gaining knowledge from their textbooks. “Teachers and parents have to look on the practice of moral values of children,” he said while claiming the necessity of reading habit to build moral values among people. Meanwhile, Abdus Sattar Khan, founder of the ‘Village Library Movement’, has been working since 2006 for establishing libraries in every village of the country and his work, he claimed, has gained a momentum. His initial journey was not so smooth but the campaign has so far managed to build 54 libraries in 54 villages with the help of others. His dream is to build a library in each of the village of the country. “The village library movement is not just about reading books or building readership. It’s also about building a centre to identify the problems of villages and solve them from the libraries,” he said. On the other hand, the world day was also about copyright of books.
Dipankar Das, the owner of Baatighar, one of the largest bookstores of the country, thinks that as the book publication has yet not become an industry of the country, it is a challenge for the publishers.
“Readership must be increased to develop the sector and students are needed to be encouraged about reading books for this,” he said adding that the market should be made larger to encourage the publishers.
Mentioning piracy as another challenge, Dipankar told UNB that the government must put greater emphasis on this matter. “Stronger monitoring is needed to fight the challenge,” he added. Although there has been basic change in reading habit, paperback books still dominate the reader’s choice and attract the readers amid the extensive digital revolution of books. The information provided by Bangla Academy showed that the publication of books has nearly doubled and the sales of books have increased by almost seven times compared to five years ago.
A total of 4591 books came out during the Boi Mela in February last and books were sold amounting to Tk 71 crore (estimated), while the number of released books was 2,963 and sales amounted to Tk 11 crore (estimated) in 2013. The number of published books during the fair in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 stood at 2995, 3700, 3444 and 3646 respectively, while the estimated total sales were Tk 17 crore, Tk 22 crore, Tk 40 crore and Tk 66 crore.
