Adab-o-Kutub Khana-15 published

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The 15th edition of Adab-o-Kutub Khana has been published by the Bazm-e-Akram during the first month of the current year (2021) and it’s being delivered to its various contributors and subscribers spread in different corners of the world.

The future of the annual publication had looked jeopardized when last year some members of the Library Promotion Bureau (LPB), who also happened to be the office-bearers of the Bazm-e-Akram, had expressed their reservations about various aspects of Adab-o-Kutub Khana before having agreed reluctantly to let it continue on self-help basis. 

The Chief Editor of Adab-o-Kutub Khana, Prof Dr Nasim Fatima, who is also the central figure of the bureau in the absence of its Founder President, Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari, who has returned to USA, has succeeded in getting the 15th edition of the annual published despite the numerous challenges posed by coronavirus (COVID-19) last year. 

“2020 was a tough year for libraries and literature. Quite a few luminaries of the literary world passed away and some eminent library professionals also left this mortal world,” Prof Dr Nasim Fatima observed in her opening remarks. 

She has not minced words in stating that, due to the rising inflation and the limited financial resources the publication of the annual may not be possible in future until the situation improved. 

Adab-o-Kutub Khana-15 is spread over 236 pages, having retained its earlier price of Rupees 500 per copy in Pakistan while it will be continue to be available for USD15 abroad. Noted researcher, Dr Abdul Haleem Chishti, who expired in October 2020, features on the cover of the annual publication. 

Besides editorial, there are hamds, naats, ghazals, poems, religious articles, short stories, interviews, comments, analysis, research articles and travelogues besides an article on libraries of Turkey.