Our vision is to transform book festivals into a 365-day reading culture: NBT chief

Pune, Dec 14 (PTI) The National Book Trust plans to expand book festivals to tier-3 cities and strengthen libraries across the country to build a sustained reading culture beyond annual events, NBT chairperson Milind Marathe said here on Sunday.

Speaking to PTI on the sidelines of the Pune Book Festival, also known as ‘Pune Pustak Mahotsav’, Marathe said the third edition of the festival has grown into a people’s movement, drawing around 750 publishers offering books on virtually every subject.

“This is no longer just NBT’s book festival. The people of Pune have adopted it wholeheartedly, reflected in the huge footfall, enthusiastic participation in events and strong book purchases,” he said.

The nine-day festival features a dedicated Children’s Corner with programmes aimed at students from Classes 1 to 8, focusing on reading habits, storytelling, cartoon and poster making, and book appreciation. An Author’s Corner will host the launch of around 54 books, along with multiple discussion sessions.

Marathe said the Pune Literature Festival, from December 16 to 21, will be a major highlight. “It will be held over six days, with three days dedicated exclusively to Marathi literature and three to Hindi and English. Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will inaugurate the festival,” he said.

Outlining NBT’s future plans, Marathe said the Trust intends to take book festivals to districts and smaller cities, where access to such platforms is limited. “Tier-1 cities have facilities, but tier-3 cities need focused intervention. These festivals may be shorter, but the idea is to reach new readers,” he said.

The National Book Trust is a government body under the Ministry of Education, established in 1957 to promote books and reading habits.

Marathe said the Goa Book Festival will be held in Panaji from February 4 to 9 next year, catering to Konkani, Marathi, Hindi and English readers, followed by similar initiatives in cities such as Sambalpur in Odisha.

Emphasising sustainability, he said libraries would play a key role in converting nine-day festivals into a year-round reading movement. He said over 200 librarians attended a workshop during the Pune festival and committed to organising activities to promote reading in their communities.

The NBT chairperson also appealed to readers to use the ‘Rashtriya e-Pustakalaya’ app, which offers over 5,500 free digital books in 22 languages from 150 publishers, supported by the Ministry of Education.

“We are also working to strengthen physical libraries. If governments or organisations provide space and infrastructure, NBT will support them with books, activities and systems,” he said.

Marathe said vibrant library activities have begun in Budgam near Srinagar following book fairs in the region, while proposals are underway with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. Similar initiatives are planned for Pune and cities in Odisha, including Cuttack, Bhubaneswar or Sambalpur.

“Our vision is to transform book festivals into a 365-day reading culture movement across the country,” he said.

Yuvraj Malik, the director of NBT, said the organisation has been holding book festivals across the country, and is gearing up for the Goa Book Festival.

“The Pune Book Festival has firmly established itself on the national stage. The time has come to take it global. We aim to scale up participation not only from across India but also from abroad, and we look forward to inviting leading literary nations to participate in the 2026 edition,” Malik said. PTI SPK NR