Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari is back!

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari, the founder of the Library Promotion Bureau (LPB) and an ex-chairperson, Department of Library Information Science, University of Karachi, is back to his home city of Karachi after having spent the last one year in North America. And he’s back to business once more, without wasting a single moment which has been his hallmark for decades. 

Although his travel plans have had to be altered more than once due to COVID-19 related issues during the past year and a half, the octogenarian scholar has lost none of his mighty enthusiasm and his spirits have not been dampened even a bit. 

He was his usual self at the Record Office of the Library Promotion Bureau (LPB) in Karachi on December 23 where he informally spent time with members and visitors. He was full of energy as he geared up to attend the many ceremonies in his honour which have been lined up for the next couple of months. 

The bureau has had the reputation of coming alive particularly during the period he stayed in Karachi as the library professionals from all over the country converged to seek audience with him and to invite him to their institutions. 

In the past, he had made it a point to spend three months every year in Pakistan while staying abroad for the remaining nine months. This time, however, he has arrived after a gap of more than a year as he had overstayed in Karachi due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. Quite remarkably, the LPB, despite the innumerable challenges of the pandemic, continued bringing out its books as well as their quarterly journal.