The second Book Fair at Virudhunagar began here on Thursday.
Revenue Minister, K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, inaugurated the book fair at K.V. Sala Higher Secondary School ground. The exhibition will be open for 12 days till November 27.
The Minister also flagged off an awareness vehicle with a 10-foot-high mascot of ‘Viru,’ a giant squirrel, on the occasion. The vehicle would go around the town to create awareness about the book exhibition among the people.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ramachandran said that books were the right medium to enrich one’s knowledge, to read about nostalgia associated with the good old days, and new lyrics for those with a creative bent of mind. People should inculcate the habit of reading whenever they get free time and during travel, he said.
The exhibition features hundreds of stalls displaying books on arts, literature, history, social science, motivation and self-development in Tamil and English. Besides, encyclopaedia and books on competitive examinations published by Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission are also available. Books to guide civil services aspirants are also kept at the stalls. There are books for people of every age and taste.
A display of artefacts discovered at Vembakottai archaeological excavation site, traditional musical instruments, planetarium, 3D films, entertainment for children, and food courts have been put up on the exhibition ground.
Speaking on the occasion, Collector V.P. Jayaseelan said that though social media is pregnant with information, it also has wrong or false information. Book reading habit will help the youngsters to develop the skill of differentiating between the true and false information. One sentence read in a book could even have a life-turning impact on individuals, he added.
Virudhunagar MLA A.R.R. Srinivasan, Sivakasi Mayor I. Sangeetha, District Revenue Officer J. Ravikumar, Superintendent of Police R. Srinivasa Perumal, Project Director (DRDA) Dhandapani were present.
