Madurai book festival begins – The Hindu

Inaugurating the annual book festival in Madurai on Friday, Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy spoke about the importance of education. He said every year the annual book festival had received a good reception from the public.

Considering the number of books sold at the Madurai book festival every year, one could say with confidence that the number of bibliophiles had increased, he said. People were making good use of the facilities at the Kalaignar Centenary Library which had become popular among the students, he said and urged the people to make the best use of the book festival.

Collector K.J. Praveen Kumar said this year’s book festival was bigger when compared to the previous editions. This year the number of book stalls had increased to 232 when compared to last year’s 150, he said.

He said ₹3.5 crore worth of books was sold at the previous edition of the book festival. It showed the people’s love for books and the book festival, he said, adding that the book festival was for everyone to celebrate and book stalls were set up catering to the interest of the people.

He said that people could also donate their books at the book festival. It will be donated to government schools and libraries. He urged the people, particularly students to make the best use of the festival. Books are our best friend. Once we stop reading, our growth will stop, he said and urged parents to instill reading habit in children.

Mayor Indirani Ponvasanth, BAPASI president Sethu Chockalingam, and others were present. Cultural programmes will be conducted every day as part of the book festival.