The annual National Book Festival brought up jointly by the National Book Trust, State Department of Tamil Development, Salem District Library Authority and the New Century Book House got under way at the Bose Maidan in the city on Thursday.
More than 10,000 titles published by about 50 leading publishing houses across the country have been displayed at the exhibition.
The National Book Trust, functioning under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, has been publishing low-cost books on different topics. The books of the National Book Trust, including books for children, provide added attraction to the exhibition.
Books on science and technology, computer science, medicine, engineering, Tamil literature, religion, grammar, politics, general knowledge, novels, biographies, collection of poems, dictionaries, and yearbooks have been displayed at the exhibition.
P. Rajan, Superintendent of Police, declared the exhibition open, in the presence of A. Gnanagowry, Chief Educational Officer. Both the officers underlined the importance of inculcating reading habit in the minds of youngsters and called upon the college and school students to take advantage of such events.
V. Madeswaran, District Library Officer, was also present on the occasion.
According to A. Ganesan, zonal manager of the New Century Book House, a discount of 10 per cent is offered on all the purchases made at the exhibition. Additional discount is extended for the purchases made by schools and colleges.
The exhibition is open from 9.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. on all seven days a week and will continue for three months.
