The Guyana Book Foundation (GBF) will be focusing on bringing children and books together to celebrate reading next week when it hosts its 9th annual National Book Fair.

In a press release, the GBF said the fair will be formally launched on Tuesday at 5pm and will be open to the public on Wednesday and Thursday from 9am to 4pm, in the Rupununi Room of the Hotel Tower. University of Guyana (UG) Vice Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington, GBF Chairperson Evelyn Hamilton and GBF Director David Granger are expected to address the opening ceremony.  The GBF said since the fair aims to “[bring] children and books together to celebrate reading,” students and teachers of primary and secondary schools have been invited through their head teachers to participate in the fair on Wednesday. The GBF’s mandate is to promote children’s literacy across the country-a goal it pursues in partnership with other national NGOs and state and private sector organisations, with funding from its Canadian partner CODE and CIDA. According to the release the partners exhibiting in this year’s book fair are Austin’s Book Services, The Arts Forum, the Free Press, the Michael Forde Book Shop, the National Library, the National Documentation Centre, NCERD-Early Childhood Education, the UG Library and the Varqa Foundation. A broad range of local, Caribbean and North American books will be on display and for sale.

The GBF is hopeful that the fair will receive much support from students, school leavers, teachers and the public as it strives to promote a literate environment for children while building and strengthening its partnerships to sustain this work.