14th edition of Adab-o-Kutub Khana released amid uncertain future

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The 14th edition of Adab-o-Kutub Khana was released by the Bazm-e-Akram on the New Year Day and its future was deliberated during the meeting of the Library Promotion Bureau (LPB) held on January 11.

While a few of the LPB members, who also happen to be the office-bearers of the Bazm-e-Akram, expressed their reservations about various aspects of Adab-o-Kutub Khana, it was finally agreed to let its yearly publication continue on self-help basis. 

Adab-o-Kutub Khana-14, spread over 250 pages, is priced Rupees 500 in Pakistan while it will be available for USD15 abroad in view of the rising postal charges. 

It contains editorial, hamd, naat, ghazals, poems, religious articles, short stories, impressions, comments, analysis, research articles, travelogues and a couple of articles on libraries. 

The two interviews published in the Adab-o-Kutub Khana-14 consume no less than 12 and 17 pages which are considered ‘marathon’ from annual publication standards. 

There are as many as 15 write-ups, highlighting the services and contributions of Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari, who also features on the cover of Adab-o-Kutub Khana-14. 

Chief Editor, Prof Dr Nasim Fatima, has paid glowing tribute to her mentor and teacher, Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari, in the editorial. 

Describing him as a living legend and a leader, Prof Dr Nasim Fatima has wholeheartedly praised him for his scholastic and human qualities. 

“He has single-handedly managed the 51-year old journey of the Pakistan Library & Information Science Journal (PLISJ). No other library journal has survived so long in Pakistan. Similarly he has led the Library Promotion Bureau (LPB) since its inception in 1966, having brought out more than 90 books,” she acknowledged.