Fair aims to sell 25,000 used books

This year, the books sold will be priced at anything between Dh5 to Dh30, and some books will be made available for under Dh5.

Book lovers have a reason to rejoice as the second edition of the hugely popular Books2Benefit UAE is here. 
After a massive collection drive that lasted several months, the book fair is all set to sell 25,000 second-hand books of various titles and genres. The two-day fair will begin today at the Novotel Hotel, Al Barsha, from 10am to 10pm. 
All proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Emirates Red Crescent Society, stated Ursula Manvatkar, founder of Medulla and the primary event organiser of Books2Benefit-UAE. "Apart from the charity initiatives, Books2Benefit also aspires to play a great role in encouraging people of all age groups to develop a reading habit," she said.
"Books2Benefit is a community event. The event was put together by members of our community, and by raising funds, we are giving back to needy members of our community," added Ursula.
In 2015, the book collection drive collected over 25,000 books, with participation from 200 volunteers. "18,000 first and second-hand books were sold, and Dh51,722 was raised at the fair for Al Manzil Special Needs Centre, Sharjah," revealed Ursula.
The charity sale will have something for fans of every genre of the written word, including fiction, self-help, Arabic language books, Islamic texts, school textbooks, horror, thrillers, biographies, science and technology and Guinness Record books. This year, the books sold will be priced at anything between Dh5 to Dh30, and some books will be made available for under Dh5. 
Philippe Montaubin, cluster general manager of Ibis, Novotel, said: "Through this two-day event, we hope to reach out to people, bring out the joy of sharing the written word and imbibe the community spirit."
Apart from the book sale, Books2Benefit will also organise separate activities for children including face painting, giveaways, caricature artists, and live book reading sessions.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com
 

• UAE
• Dubai

Dhanusha Gokulan

• dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com