Rare books on display as part of Book Week 2010

If you love reading and share an interest in Belizean history there’s an exhibition showcasing Belizean authors and publishers at the Image Factory.  The collection of writings from different literary genres some which go back a century or more are available for viewing among the three hundred select publications.  News Five’s Isani Cayetano was on hand for the opening of the exhibition and has the following report.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The display coincides with Book Week 2010 and, according to Montserrat Casademunt, despite the internet age more publications are being distributed through various media presently than there have been in the past.

Montserrat Casademunt, Publisher, Cubola Productions

Montserrat Casademunt

“There are more books published around the world now than in any time in history.  So I don’t think reading books is dying out.  I think the medium is changing people is, there is more people reading on the internet or researching over the internet.  To me it’s difficult to replace a book because [with] a book all the senses intervene.  You have the sense of the feeling, the smell, the sight; it is a wholesome experience and I think if children when they are very young, we all love books so if we can keep this interest going and this is the problem.  If we can supply them with enough books to keep them interested I think even if they stop reading in a period in their lives they will come back to it eventually.”

One such person who shares a rekindled love for the written word is Yasser Musa.  Along with his colleagues at the Image Factory Foundation he embarked on gathering as many local works as possible to put on view.

yasser musa

Yasser Musa, Publisher, Image Factory Foundation

“We decided, for the past few months, to start collecting books published in and about Belize and here we have today this exhibit of over three hundred books that come from three main collections.  First, the Image Factory collection, our own collection of art books and things we’ve done over the past fifteen years in addition to our private collection of books but also two important other collections: the Cubola books which we have a fine collection of their books that they’ve been publishing since the early 1970s.  And then finally we have the Craig family collection of books from Meg Craig who’s been an outstanding collector of all things Belizean and especially books.  She’s inspired me to fall in love with books again and we have from her collection some very rare books.”

Of those infrequent publications the oldest in the collection currently on display dates back to 1868.  The rare books section focuses primarily on Belize’s colonial past while other areas include novels written by renowned author Zee Edgell among others. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.