Global Power Of Books!

As we ready ourselves for another power packed London Book Fair, Jacks Thomas, Director, states that the shortlisted -29 countries for the 7th LBF International Excellence Awards, signifies that the global book industry continues to thrive with innovation, inspiration and sheer hard work. The awards capture the passion and commitment of those working in this global village to share the power of books. From India, Karadi Tales has been nominated for The Audiobook Publisher of the Year; while Karadi Path Education Company has been short listed for The Educational Initiatives Award and The Educational Learning Resources Award.

Moreover, India is the Guest of Honour Country at Livre Paris 2020 and like the last two successful GOH at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and Guadalajara International Book Fair, Mexico, India is ready to shine again. An aesthetically-designed INDIA PAVILION is being created by National Book Trust (NBT), for Livre Paris 2020, combining the essence of Indian tradition and culture, fused with modern and technologically advanced facet of our nation.

“Books are the best medium for a well-educated and well-aware society,” says Yuvraj Malik, Director National Book Trust, India. NBT makes reading material available, on reasonable prices, across cities, towns and remote areas, to promote reading and book culture in the country. A book in every child’s hand is their endeavour. In the last financial year, NBT sold about 2.5-crore copies of books, and their Reader’s Clubs has a network of more than 75,000 schools across the country.

In our interaction with Dr. Anup Rajput of NCERT, he highlighted the focus on both teachers and students. Last year, in September 2019, NCERT initiated and is reaching out to 4.2 million teachers through NISHTHA, National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement, a capacity building programme. As per Dr. Anup Rajput of NCERT, they trained 33,000 teachers, educators, KRPs (Key resource persons), school headmasters, principals etc last year.

Its’s all about promoting love for reading – Mridula Koshy, a library movement activist, believes without access to libraries, even privileged India is impoverished. “India is home to some of the most creative story tellers on the planet,” shares Devashish Sharma, Country Head (India), Wattpad. In India, they have 2.8 million monthly users and Wattpadders in India have shared more than 4 million story uploads.

This issue is power packed with information on all these and more. Happy reading!

Shweta
shweta@allaboutbookpublishing.com