Speaking to the guests to the annual fair during a reception, he said: “When we staged this book show we wanted our people to know and read the thoughts and ideas of others.”
Despite initial problems, the annual book fair at the Riyadh International Exhibition Center has been a great success, according to organizers.
“The publishers are happy about their participation in the book fair. There is a variety of books with more than 250,000 titles exhibited by 650 publishers who have come from all over the world,” the book fair’s assistant director Abdulaziz S. Al-Aqeel told Arab News on Wednesday.
The books on display are in different languages including Arabic, English and French
Al-Aqeel noted the big turnout of visitors, which included authors, scholars, university professors and students, among others. One well-known visitor on Wednesday was Egyptian scholar and preacher Yusuf Al-Qaradawi.
Al-Aqeel said he could see the eagerness on the faces of the visitors as they went from one booth to another.
The exhibitors agreed, saying they were happy with the turnout of visitors. “Everything is perfect. The book fair is a great success. We had no problems in the shipment of our books and getting them to the exhibition area. Our most popular book is US President Barack Obama’s autobiography,” said Catherine Schweitzer of the US Embassy, who is also a volunteer for the American Information Resource Center.
“We encountered no problems. Everything is perfect as far as our books are concerned,” added Mustapha Ahmad of the General Egyptian Book Organization.
However, some exhibitors encountered difficulties. One of them was 65-year-old Mona Henning, who represents Sweden’s Dar Al-Muna.
“I must admit that the problems could have been avoided. This is my first time participating in this book fair and I did not know the procedures in bringing the books to the exhibition area,” she said.
Henning added that she did not know that she had to go to the airport and obtain an airway bill and packing list before taking the books through customs.
“I eventually contacted the organizers and they acted fast. The boxes containing the books from Sweden were all intact,” she said.
Suleiman Al-Assad, a member of the book fair’s media committee, said that if there were problems exhibitors could approach the organizers.
The book fair, which ends on Friday, was opened by Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Khoja.
