For a book club revolution in Bangladesh
If we genuinely want people to read and develop a healthy book culture in Bangladesh, there is a way – create a thousand book clubs nationwide
An international business magazine survey claimed that Bangladeshis read books for 10 minutes every day, meaning 62 hours a year. Although Bangladesh has ranked 97 among 102 countries, it is great to know we are still reading in a mind-boggling age of viral-ing away our attention to something that destroys our focus.
You must ask which countries have the top five readers in these 102. They are America, India (in second place), England, France, and Italy.
India? Among them? Did I read it correctly?
Yes, I did. India reads books and encourages its population to read. Many Indian citizens cannot read and write to this day, but the country is multilingual and has lakhs of publishing companies and newspapers that continuously create readable texts that evoke attention from readers. Western publishing houses now have businesses in India.
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Along with India, other South Asian countries have some structure in their publishing industries, which, in fact, have a significant role in promoting reading habits among the people.
They talk about books.
On the contrary, in our country, talking about books is only a February phenomenon. Our publishers hardly try to find new authors and are busy popularising those who are already popular. Our newspapers allocate scant space for books in their weekly literary supplements. We forget that the media has a big responsibility to promote books and reading habits.
A panoramic observation about books and reading habits in this country depicts a demotivating picture. If we genuinely want people to read and develop a healthy book culture in Bangladesh, there is a way – create a thousand book clubs nationwide.
Yes, I mean it. I see the inherent help that book clubs can offer to change a culture. Let me tell you a small story about how we created such a club in our workplace and received wonderful results.
When we started the BRAC Bank Reading Café, only 10 of us were there. We selected a book to read, sat down every month and discussed it. Sometimes, we also invited the authors of the books. In a year, the café attracted the attention of thousands of our colleagues in the bank branches, and a reading habit is slowly developing among all establishments.
It is not only in the workplace, our colleagues are transmitting the culture among their families and customers. Now, our colleagues greet our customers with books.
Imagine the impact of 61 book clubs in 61 banks. Imagine every newspaper in the country having a book club. Imagine every publishing house across the country having a book club. Imagine 64 district commissioners creating 64 book clubs.
The impact will be unthinkable.
Reading has a profound impact on developing a psyche that we have not experienced in our national life. If a thousand book clubs read one book every month in a year, it makes 12,000 books. If a thousand book clubs have 20 readers in each club, it makes 20,000 solid readers across Bangladesh.
Now, imagine the impact these readers would have at the family, business, and national levels. Truly unthinkable and a happy development.
Ekram Kabir is a storyteller. He is just an email away: ekabir@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
