Book fair opens at University Hall

VADODARA, Jan 19: The advent of idiot box has not affected the reading habits among the masses. Book-lovers -- the students, working peop...

VADODARA, Jan 19: The advent of idiot box has not affected the reading habits among the masses. Book-lovers 8212; the students, working people 8212; have got a rare opportunity to choose a variety of books displayed under one roof in Vadodara for two days beginning Tuesday.

Organised after two decades, 11 city-based stalls have displayed 7,000 books on a variety of subjects. The exhibition is being held at the Central hall of the M S University. While it was the same book-sellers who have their stalls in the city but the display and arrangement of the books have definitely made a difference.

Said A Munshi, a marketing executive, 8220;A book exhibition is rare in this city and especiallly if it is hosted at the university it has a different charm8221;.

Munshi added that the same books were there in ths stalls but you could not go and spend this time at the bookstall. 8220;Moreover the classification is also missing in the stalls,8221; said Munshi. He added that only if the people knew the name of the book they could go and purchase it.

Manish Doshi, a Faculty of Science student, said, 8220;Most of the bookstalls here do not have adequate place where the people could move around and select the books8221;.

Doshi also said that such exhibitions were easy for the students on their pockets also. 8220;There is a good variety of the books and it is not only books pertaining to the syllabus but also include novels and fiction,8221; said Doshi.

Speaking on the occasion Vice-Chancellor of M S University Anil Kane said, 8220;The fact that as many as 7,000 students visit the library daily shows the potential that such an exhibition would have8221;. He added that the such occasions were a rare and the students of the university should make the maximum of it.

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Pointing out the advantages of having such an exhibition on the univresity campus, Jigna Parikh of the Faculty of Arts said, 8220;The students could take a break from the classes and go through a book of their choice8221;. She added that the added advantage was that the students could also pay an amount as advance and purchase it later.

R Pandey, a school teacher, said, 8220;Such book exhibitions should be held in the city frequently because it not only enable the people to know about a variety of books but if one was unable to buy a book on the spot they could purchase it from the stall later8221;.

Pandey also added that the university campus was rightly selected for the purpose.