Someone entering the Ekushey book fair premises is likely to hear public announcement made by the fair information centre seeking donator of blood for emergency patients.
The visitors, alongside browsing and buying books, also pay heed to the appeal for humanitarian initiatives like donating bloods to different volunteer blood collecting organisation and extending financial help to ailing children, students and others.
During the current book fair, at least three stalls were collecting blood from the donors and till February 22, they collected about 2,560 bags of blood. Of them, Quantum Foundation had collected about 1,600 bags, Red Crescent about 600 bags and Sandhani about 300 bags.
Abu Hanif of Quantum Foundation said peoples from all walks and ages were donating blood and most of them were the young people.
A numbers of volunteers were collecting money outside the book fair entrance and exit gate for blood caner patients, Abdur Rahman, a secondary school certificate examinee of Badda Alatunnessa High School, Shanto, Class IV student of Dujay Pre Cadet School of Jhenidah, Shihab, a four-year-old child, and others.
Besides them, many were also collecting money for the mother of Rezwana Haq, a student of Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University.
Shuvo Chakrabarty, brother of Shanto, said people visiting fair were extending financial help to those who were collecting money.
Abdur Rashid, a visitor to the fair, were found putting money into the glass box for Shihab.
On Tuesday, the fair committee observed the third and final children’s hours from 11:00am to 3:00am. The academy allowed a guardian with each of the children.
According to the salespersons of different stalls, trade on the day was satisfactory and the trend would keep up to the end of the fair.
According to the fair information centre, a total of 102 new titles hit the stalls on the day while 24 new titles were launched at Nazrul Mancha.
Collection of poem led the tally of new arrivals with 29 titles, followed by 18 collections of stories, 12 researches, 11 novels and others on the day.
The academy will today hold seminars titled ‘Rabindranath: Na Ninda Na Stuti’ ‘Rabindranather Brhamha Sahitya’.
Shantunu Kaiser and Robayet Ferdous will read out the keynote papers while Faijul Latif Chowdhury, Rafiq Kaiser, Aminur Rahman Sultan and Farjana Siddika will take part in the discussion.
Pabritra Sarker will preside over the programme to be followed by a cultural programme.
Courtesy of New Age
