Book fair opens with 2,400 stalls

With the much talked about Commonwealth Games fast approaching, the opening day of the 19th New Delhi World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan here on Saturday saw the release of “An Annotated Rights Catalogue compiled from International Rights of Books on Sports: Reading our Commonwealth” by Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.

The idea behind the catalogue is to have a consensus among publishers about the need to disseminate wider information about sports. Containing copyright and bibliographic details of over 500 titles of books, the catalogue seeks to facilitate an exchange of copyrights about books on sports among publishers.

The Organising Committee of Commonwealth Games has given permission to the National Book Trust (India) to use its special logo for its catalogue and exhibition.

At the book fair’s theme pavilion this year, the country’s legendary athlete Milkha Singh, former Indian hockey captain Zafar Iqbal and badminton player P. Gopichand would also be delivering talks on the sports they represent. The idea behind organising the talks is to generate interest in sports among bibliophiles.

Some institutions and non-government organisations including Nehru Museum and Library and Katha have been roped in by the National Book Trust to organise morning activities for children.

To promote public interest in books, school children will be allowed free entry if they visit the fair in their school uniform and are accompanied by a teacher. “But they can come only on weekdays and would have to leave by 1 p.m. This has been decided by the India Trade Promotion Organisation,” said an NBT official.

Spread over 42,000 square metres with nearly 2,400 stalls and stands representing 1,200 Indian and foreign publishers and exhibitors, the eight-day book fair has English language publishers in Hall Nos. 1 and 2, publishers of books on science and technology in Hall No. 6 and surrounding open area, foreign participants in Hall Nos. 7-A and B, publishers of educational books in Hall No. 7-C and Hanger, publishers of books on social sciences and humanities in Hall Nos. 7F, G and Foyer B, Indian regional publishers in Hall No. 12, Hindi language publishers and distributors in 12A and children’s books in Hall No. 14.