The Bonds of Book Week 2012
Bet on Books… that’s the theme for this year’s Book Week that was launched in Belize City today. If you catch the event at the Bliss, you will find a wide of selection of publications by local and international authors, some known and others who are just bursting on the literary front. Organizers say they want to make reading more attractive but the event is also celebrating publishers and everyone else involved in the book industry. News Five’s Delahnie Bain reports.
Delahnie Bain, Reporting
When is the last time you picked up a book? Even if you’re a regular reader or not, it’s Book Week and a fair taking place at the Bliss puts an array of literature right at your fingertips; whether you want to buy or borrow.
Montserrat Casademunt, President, Belize Book Industry Assn.
Montserrat Casademunt
“Book Week is to focus on books for two or three days, we have this opportunity to focus on books. That’s why the book launching and the literary readings are a very important part of the event. I think we have to make reading interesting for children. Children lose interest very, very early in reading so I think this should be the focus and to provide children with the types of books they want to read not just the ones they have to read.”
This year, the Belize Book Industry Association is encouraging both young and everyone else to “Bet on Books”. And while a variety of literature is being showcased, the writers and publishers have not been forgotten.
Montserrat Casademunt
“This year our theme is Bet on Books, we’re trying to make it interesting and I think this is something we need to keep into account. Books are and will be a part of our lives and it doesn’t matter in what format but they will still be a part of our lives for a long time to come. When we talk about books and about reading, it begins with writers. So writers are the most important part of the book world. After writers, we have publishers. Publishers are very important as well because they make whatever writers, write public and available to a wider audience.”
At the Belize City launch this morning, outlined some of the activities planned for the remainder of the week.
Montserrat Casademunt
“We have all sorts of activities. We have a book exchange in which any person can bring a book and take another one. This is organized by the Library Association. We have several panel discussions; for example we have a panel discussion on the ethics of publishing, we have another panel discussion that will examine the potential for secondary school text books. We have another panel discussion that will look at the materials that are being used in the school system and the relevance and quality of these books. Of course we have the book fair with all kinds of books with offers and special prices. So this is something we will be doing every year; it’s the third time that we organized the fair and book week and it’s in celebration of International Book and Copyright Day which happens every year on April twenty-third across the world.”
Book week continues on Wednesday with launch of the book “The Economic History of Belize” in the morning followed by “Essence and Folly” in the afternoon. Delahnie Bain for News Five.
The activities were launched in Belmopan on Monday and also featured panel discussions on tertiary education books and publications.
