Book Fair and Halving Budget

As an all-time avid reader and bibliophile—someone who considers a stack of books a perfectly reasonable piece of furniture—I am genuinely thankful for the organization of book fairs in Mongar and Punakha. Truly. Clap if you must.

To promote readers, to promote reading habits, to promote knowledge, and to build a knowledge-based society, there is a desperate need for frequent book exhibitions in different places across the country. And not just in fancy towns. I feel books should be made available everywhere: in every small town, on the highways (rest areas, not the middle of the road), in hotels, in homes, and in every classroom. If Bhutan is to weigh itself against other countries, then books are our weapons—the main windows in the walls. Dramatic? Yes. Untrue? Absolutely not.

We must therefore read books and value books to understand, evaluate, and foster knowledge and information. Our people must read and access changing ideas and expressions. Otherwise, we risk being a nation of people who know everything about archery and nothing about astrophysics. (No offence to archery.)

Now, I feel this book fair is not only a good chance for book enterprises to make money—because let's be honest, capitalism finds its way everywhere—but it also provides different choices of books to our readers at a concession rate. That part is genuinely nice. Thank you, book sellers, for your mercy.

The government of Bhutan is kind enough to give a certain budget to purchase books for school libraries to all schools in the country. The books are bought from the book fair by the respective school. So far, so good.

But this year, the budget has been slashed by more than half in the case of Chukha Dzongkhag. More than half. Let that sink in. This slashing of the budget is not a good decision. It's good to save for the future—which Bhutan does, admirably—but saving for books is not a good idea. Books are not a luxury. Books are not fancy curtains. Books are the thing that stops children from growing into adults who think knowledge comes only from TikTok.

This year, the budget to buy books has been more than halved. For example, a school that previously received Nu. 100,000 now gets less than Nu. 40,000. Sometimes even less. The reason why the Dzongkhag has chopped the budget is not very clear. It must be tax deductions. Or saving for the years to come. Or perhaps someone decided that half a library is enough for half a child. Who knows? Certainly not us.

In addition—and here is the real kicker—this year is the Reading Year. Yes. The year we are supposed to celebrate reading. And yet, the budget to buy more new books and read more new books has been... reduced. The contradiction is so beautiful it could be a poem. A tragicomedy in one act.

I would be genuinely grateful if schools could spend as much money to buy books as they currently spend hoarding money in the closet. Let the books flow. Let the budgets grow. And let next year's Reading Year actually mean something.

Until then, I'll be here, hugging my old books and crying into their dusty pages.

Google Guru