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Prepare an I
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Book Fair he

Expo Ce

Fatima Zuberi _ 21286

Muskan _ 17910
Kinza Tauheed _ 21612
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INTRODUCTION

“So many books, so little time.”

― Frank Zappa
This quote literally resembled the situation out there in the convention centre. Rows and
rows of books piled over one another and crowd of people on each stall trying to find
their books in affordable prices. Every year the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers
Association organizes a book fair at expo center in Karachi. The 16th International Book
fair was held after two years because of the COVID - 19 pandemic. It commenced on 30th
of December 2021 for a total of five days.

It encompassed of over 300+ booths including from neighborhood, worldwide

distributions, i.e., Iran, India, Turkey, Singapore, China, Malaysia, the United Kingdom,
the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, being some of them. The books were
accessible in the dialects of Urdu, English, Sindhi, Arabic, Persian, Punjabi, and Gujarati,
etc. Every stall was full of numerous genres of books like, sci-fi, fairy tales, non-fiction,
Islamic, educational, children’s books, poetry, paintings, calligraphies, etc. Thousands of
people had come there to pick their favorite authors writings. Wajih Warsi, Farooq
Ahmed, Ashfaq Ahmed, Milan Kundra, William Dalrymple, Yann Martel were some
authors that were asked by the public the most. Moreover, Sindh Culture Minister Syed
Sardar Ali Shah, was the main visitor at the event. Anwar Maqsood, Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq
and Aziz Khalid, were among major celebrity guests.
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The book fair was organized in three different halls adjacent to each other. Following are
DATA
mentioned details:

Hall No. 01
Hall No. 01 had a total of 103 stalls. Stalls No. 01 – 05 were taken up by ‘Darussalam
Publishers and Distributors’. They are international publishers and mainly deal in Quran
Majeed, Tafseer, Hadith and Fiqah books in both English and Urdu languages. Next to
them were ‘Javed Publishers (Bolti Kitabein)’, separated by a fire exit, occupying stall no
06, 07 and 08. They are a local publishing house mainly dealing in academic and
educational books in bilingual languages. Stalls No. 09 – 12 were occupied by
‘Moonlight International Publishers’. They had quite a crowd of people, particularly
students were buying from them. ‘Bismillah Book House’ had stalls no. 13 and 14. They
only had Urdu books, particularly on religion genre. ‘ASL Book Centre’ held stalls no 15
– 18 displaying a wide variety of English and Urdu books. In the next row, were single
stall publishing houses from stall no. 19 to 34. ‘Nexus publishing house’ had two stalls
no. 35 and 36. ‘Badalti Dunya’ and ‘Pak Book Corporation’ only had Urdu books.
‘Lightstone Publishers’ and ‘Qudrat Ullah Co.’ had a remarkable range of books and
were receiving media coverage as well.

‘Skool STEM & Robotics’ and ‘Learning Port’ interactive had foreigners on their team,
and they were having a bit of problem while communicating their ideas. ‘Zam Zam
Publishers’ had a huge 40% discount on their books. The autobiographies section was on
display and was receiving public attention. Members of ‘Kitab Mahal’, adjacent to
‘Global Discount Bookstore’ were engaged in some sort of heated discussion. ‘Atlantis
Publications’ was in a huge spotlight and all their books particularly, Inspector Jamshed
Series (Khaas Number) were in high demand. They also had a portrait of the author,
Ishtiaq Ahmed hung on the wall.

‘GABA EDUCATIONAL BOOKS’ held eight stalls, one of the highest in the event and
had books available on university subjects as well. Books on Engineering, Medical
Sciences and Commerce section were also present in addition to self-help ones. Again,
singular book stalls held few halls ending on ‘Association for Academic Quality –
AFAQ’ as stalls no. 99 – 103.

Hall No. 02
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Hall number 2 was in front of entrance and had huge variety of different book stalls.
There were many local and international publishers in the hall selling books on different
topics related to Islamic, History, Science, Literature, Adventure, Horror etc. The first
exhibitor in the hall was ‘Adeeb Online’ which is the first proper online Urdu Digital
Library, offering a variety of Urdu books to the readers worldwide. Second exhibitor was
‘Alnoor Welfare Foundation’ which is an Institute of Islamic Research & Education
selling books on different religious topics. Third one was ‘Al Quresh Publications’ which
sells books in Urdu language on different topics of the Islamic history, suspense, horror,
adventure, fiction, romance, social books. Fourth stall was of ‘Albakio International’
which deals in the publication of educational books for primary school students. Their
stall was full of colorful and educational books for children of primary and preprimary
level. The fifth publisher was ‘Al Faisal Nashran’ having two stalls of Islamic books.
Faisal Publishers is the global leader in Islamic Publication published more than 1400
authentic multi-lingual Islamic books in a unique and beautiful style. Sixth Exhibitor in
the hall was ‘Ali Mian Publications’. They were selling different books like novels,
afsanay, action and adventure stories. The next exhibitor was ‘Alif Kitab Publication’.
They offered Pakistan's first ever digital platform for Urdu Commercial and Creative
writers, publication house for upcoming writers who want their books published. They
were having variety of different books by different writers. The next exhibitor was
‘Anjuman-i Taraqqi-i Urdu’ which works for the promotion and dissemination of Urdu
language, literature, and culture in British India. Their stall was full of Urdu books
related to literature and culture of Urdu language. The next exhibitor was ‘Asif Book
Stall’. They were selling books of different publishers and writers on their stalls at one
place. The next exhibitor was also a one stop book sellers named ‘Book Corner Jhelum’.
They were having 3 stalls on which different books were available for every topic and
every age group. There was an exhibitor named ‘Character Education Foundation’ which
was having variety of books on Islamic education and books on the topic of character
building. The next publisher was ‘Children Publisher’ having 3 stalls which were full of
interesting books for children which were interesting as well as educational. The next
stall in the exhibition was of ‘Dany Technology (Ahsan Ul Kalam)’. There were two
stalls of them which were full of Islamic Books on various topics. The next Publisher
was ‘Dogar Brothers’ which is one of the oldest publishing companies. They were selling
Higher Education Textbooks and different guidebooks for students preparing for
different public and private sector exams. The next stall was of ‘Dua Publications’. There
were different books of local and international writers on their stall of different topic.
There were different stalls which were selling monthly magazines one of them was ‘V-
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Shine Magazine’. It is an international magazine which publishes magazine for children

of all ages. The next stall was of ‘Tawakkal Academy’ having books of different
publishers and writers. The next exhibitor was ‘Royal Book Company’ which was also
selling different books on almost every topic. There was a stall named ‘Reader’s
Heaven’, it is an international place had books of every topic and for every age group.
They were having two stalls there. ‘Karachi Art Council’ was also exhibiting there. There
was having one stall and displaying different pieces related to art, culture, and craft. The
next stall was of ‘Fact Publication’, they were having very interesting books on different
and unique topics and were having variety of books. There were so many stalls on almost
every topic and for every age group but mainly of Islamic and Urdu books. Many schools
had also brought their students to the expo and there were also many book launching
ceremonies, and many new publishers were promoting their books too.

Hall No. 03
The first category was of ‘Anjuman Khuddam-al-Quran’, it’s a local publishing house
and has books in Urdu, there were 4 stalls of them. Selling different books related to
Quranic research. The second one was ‘Aashiana publications’, they sell magazines and
they’re also a local publisher and their goal is to progress children creatively, morally,
physically, and psychologically through purposeful study and beneficial activities. There
were more than 4 stalls of it, selling interesting readings. Then 3rd one publisher is
‘Bachon ka kitab ghar’ they were also selling books for children. Books were related to
the nurturement of children, categories were horror, humor, Muslim heroes, sci-fi, poetry,
general knowledge, fantasy and much more. Then 4th one is ‘City book point’. it
includes the category History and Chronology, Islamic teachings, Arab medicine,
criticism, fiction, formula, Homeopathic guideline, this is an international number, and
sells in India, Pakistan, Makran district. Then 5th was ‘Experiment publisher’ this is also
an international publisher writes about non-fiction stories, their stories are highly real-
world, and are straightforwardly tale. The 6th one was ‘Generation book collection’ they
had books from all genres. Then 7th one was ‘Gohar publishers’ they sell books for
educational purpose or academic, they have Urdu and English both editions. The 8th one
was ‘Hodder education’ this is an international publisher publishes valuable design and
digital resources for schools and colleges, worldwide. The 9th one was ‘Idara tun noor’
publishers, this is a local publisher sells religious and spiritual books, categorized in
qur’anic teachings, cure of problems through spiritual ways. Then 10th one was ‘Jahangir
book depot’ they are one of the biggest publishers of Pakistan, sells all kind of books
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either it is a sci-fi or educational purpose, they have a wide range of books. The 11th one
is ‘Liberty Books’, it is a well-known international selling publisher, it has also a wide
range of books, approximately you can find any book there. The 12th one was ‘MAK
education’ these publishers write about women education, development in Asia,
development of texture in child education etc. The 13th one was ‘Atraaf international
publisher’ category includes latest, view, business, economics, children side, and
paintings. The 14th one is ‘National library association’(NLA), it is an international
publisher, American library association aim to promote library services, and sells wide
range of books in reasonable prices.

The 15th one is ‘Old books collection’ it is a huge Pakistan’s book shop which claims to
have over 60,000 range of different kind of books. Now comes ‘Oxford University press
books’ at 16th number, there was a huge variety of books out there either of school
textbooks or higher educational purpose. Now, ‘Pakistan red crescent society’ on 17th.
‘Paramount books private limited’ offers wide range of novels, Pakistan studies books,
history, children education and much more. Then on 18th ‘Progressive International
agencies private limited’ sells these categories, Chemistry, Engineering, Sciences,
Environmental Studies, Art works, Physics book, Clothing Book, Coloring Book, Tales
of fairies, and Sound Book, Sticker Books. Then on 19th there is a stall of ‘Saleem book’
which has also a wide range of readings include, children educational readings novels,
(sci-fi, fictional, non-fictional, fantasies etc). Stall 20th of ‘Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai
University stall’. 21st stall was of ‘Shirkat-ul-Imtiaz’ also a local store of books in
Pakistan, sells both English and Urdu books. 22nd stall was of ‘Sindh textbook board of
Jamshoro’ sales every kind of educational purpose books. 23rd stall of ‘Sindhi Adbi
board books’, Sindhi language books were available there. ‘Sunrise publications’ books
are also preferred by educational institutes. 24th stall was of ‘’The citizens foundation’’
is a private network of low, cost schools in Pakistan. They publish their own books, and
the stall was out there, and books were available at very low cost. And in hall number 3
there was a last stall of ‘Urdu science board’, it is also a local book, store located in
different cities of Pakistan. Over 4 stalls were present there and had a huge variety of
books.
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Blueprints for Halls

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SUMMARY:
Around 330 stalls were present in the 16th International Book Fair at Expo. Books were
present in Urdu and English language while a few being in Arabic, Persian and Sindhi as
well. A variety of genres were covered, popular ones being children fantasy stories and
academic books. More than 10,000 people have attended the exhibition so far and more
are expected too. The presence of STEM program also adds to the authenticity of the
exhibition by including foreigners in it. The fair received media coverage as well and an
enthusiastic response form the public, thereby making it successful and productive.
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Following people were involved in the preparation of the report.

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