islamabad - Children from twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad enthusiastically participated in the Summer Book Club activities started by National Book Foundation (NBF) in its main auditorium from Tuesday.

Summer Book Club was formally inaugurated by Federal Secretary for National History and Literary Heritage (NHLH) Division, Engineer Aamir Hasan.

Around 53 children from different educational institutions participated in the inaugural day activities of Summer Book Club.  

NBF has been arranging Summer Book Club since the year 2012 as part of its initiatives to promote book reading culture among the children.  Speaking on the occasion, Federal Secretary, Engineer Aamir Hasan said that such educational and recreational activities are extremely useful for physical and mental nourishment of the children.

He said promotion of book reading activities among children play a vibrant role in their personality development, character building and inculcate the trend of positive thinking in them. The Federal Secretary urged the parents to send their children to this free Summer Book Club so that the children can remain in touch with academic activities, learn crafts and gain maximum knowledge. He assured his division’s all out support and complete patronage for such activities which create positive impact on the lives of the younger generation.

Managing Director, NBF, Dr Inam-ul-Haq Javed said, NBF has been arranging Summer Book Club from the last five consecutive years successfully and has received overwhelming response this year too.

He said NBF is carrying out different activities for promotion of book reading culture among the children under the patronage of Advisor to Prime Minister on NH&LH Division, Irfan Siddiqui and Summer Book Club is one of these activities.

“This free Summer Book Club, featuring a number of colourful book related activities, is arranged for the children every year to provide them a platform where they can learn variety of crafts and gain practical knowledge”, he said.

Prominent Actress and Book Ambassador, Laila Zuberi entertained the children through narrating a story ‘Har Muamley Ki Gehrai Mein Na Jaen’ from a book “Turkey key Qadeem Qissey Aur Kahaniyan” by Aisha Rubab for the children.

Speaking on the occasion, Prominent Educationist and Literary Personality, Qaisera Alvi said it is a great opportunity for the students of different institutions to participate this free of cost Summer Book Club and utilise their precious time.

The students, she said, can learn different crafts, enjoy book reading sessions and learn knowledge through interactive activities while the Question Answer session will help instil inquisitive ability in them, she said.

She said this Summer Book Club will serve as a treat for those children who are unable to attend expensive summer camps being arranged by different private schools. She urged the other institutions to come up with such ideas for the betterment of the children.

The students from different educational institutions including Beacon House, Bahria School, Model School, City School, Muslim Grammer School and Sir Syed School are participating in the Summer Book Club activities. Federal Secretary, Aamir Hasan also visited NBF National Book Museum along with Managing Director, NBF, Dr Inamul Haq Javed and other officials.

The Summer Book Club activities include Story Telling, Book Reading Sessions, Question Answer Sessions and Art Work and will conclude on August 10. Students are being given snacks during the time.

The Summer Book Club will be continued from 10:30am to 1:00pm, while on Friday, it will be from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon. In-charge of the Summer Book Club, Afshan Sajid can be contacted by the parents for participation of their children in Book Club.