Dhaka: Book wormers, in their hundreds, thronged the Ekushey book fair on the Bangla Academy premises with the spirit of love for their mother tongue on Saturday, hours before the observance of Shaheed Day and International Mother Language Day.

Though the Ekushey Book Fair usually draws huge crowd on Saturday as a weekly holiday, it turned abuzz on the eve Amar Ekushey, bringing smile to publishers and sellers faces.

While visiting the book fair, the UNB correspondent found the publishers, booksellers and visitors in a festive mood with the increase in sales of books alongside enthusiastic visitors.

The salesmen of different book stalls were seen very busy selling and displaying books to attract their customers.

The fair venue got overcrowded in the evening as popular publishing houses were full of buyers.

The book sellers and publishers said the sale of books gain a momentum days before and after the Amar Ekeushy as the new books hit the stalls right at the that time.

According to the Bangla Academy, a total of 2396 new titles made their way into stalls as of Saturday, with 137 being were launched on the 20^th day of the fair alone.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over Ekushey Padak-2016 to 16 eminent personalities in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their respective fields. The Padak distribution ceremony was held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city.

The nation is set to pay profound homage at the wee hours Sunday to the martyrs of the Language Movement who made supreme sacrifices to establish rights of the mother tongue in 1952.

Talking to UNB, Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor who visited the fair in the afternoon said, ‘The book sellers have been able to set up their stalls beautifully as they liked this time as the fair venue has been widened, drawing a greater number of booklovers.’

Samay Prakashan publisher Fariduddin Ahmed noted that the fair witnessed an increased number of both book buyers and visitors on Saturday. ‘They’re buying books with a fresh zeal on the eve of the Amar Ekushey. Now the mood is absolutely of festival.’

Ashiqur Rahman of Rodela Prokashani said the sale has been very good for the last three days.

As part of its regular programmes, the Bangla Academy held a discussion titled ‘The Social and Cultural Revolution in Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects’ on its premises followed by a cultural programme.

Kamal Lohani, a senior cultural activist, presided over the session while writer and researcher Mofidul Hoque read out the keynote paper.