Thursday February 23, 2017
Kabul (BNA) Bamyan is one of the country’s provinces, where all cultural sections have got better.
Recently book-selling markets and book-reading culture have much improved in the province where dozens of school and university students have been interested in reading books to obtain information, but the students are facing lack of a number of books.
Related to the issue, Acting Director of Information and Culture Ahmad Hussain Ahmadpur told, “There are lots of libraries in Bamyan as the public library, the university and the education and women affairs ministries’ libraries which have various books read by most of youth, school and university students, but the respective libraries are facing with lack of a number of books needed by students. We are trying to address the problem by creating an IT center equipped with internet and equipping the public library of the province with books.” In connection with improving of book-reading culture in the province, Ahmadpur says improvement of book-reading among the youth of Bamyan has put positive impacts in empowering field of the youth as a large number of youth regularly hold weekly literal and cultural programs in the province.
“Most of youth in cooperation with a cultural activist of the province Abdul Ghafoor Mohammadi holds weekly program of poetry, local music and others as well as hold book-reading, paragraph-writing competitions and other scientific and cultural programs; thus, interest and improvement of book-reading have increased among the youth of Bamyan comparing to internet in the province”, Ahmadpur said. Mr. Ahmadpur pointed to a range of book problems in the province and said, “We have books needed by school and university students, but we need more books to address all needs of book-readers. Provincial directorate of information and culture has prepared lists of needed academic sources in coordination with students and university lecturers and sent them to the public library and a number of partnered organizations to cooperate with us in this regard.”
Related to cooperation of book-loving activists, Ahmadpur added, “Last year with initiative of a Bamyani young, a mobile library was operated for children of the province where dozens of children make use of the library every day.”
Briefing in connection with cultural books in the province, Ahmadpur said directorate of information and culture of Bamyan by making use of SAARC programs has published more than ten books written about various issues and it was determined the books would be soon submitted to directorate of information and culture. Replying a question, Ahmad Hussain Ahmadpur said the books which have been recently published were more about researches related to past history of Bamyan and other daily cultural, art and historic issues of Afghanistan. This comes as recent IT developments in the country have caused that book-reading culture is not improving in Afghanistan, but there is hope in Bamyan where book-reading culture has improved recently by effort of youth of the province so that a good competition will be created between provinces in this regard.
Karima Malikzada
