National Book Trust to launch book series on coronavirus

NEW DELHI: The National Book Trust or NBT is launching a book series on the psycho-social impact and ways to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

In an official statement, NBT chairman Govind Prasad Sharma said, “In response to the national crisis of this proportion, we believe that as a national institution it is our duty to take initiatives within our domain area to provide support in the form of new reading materials.”

The series of affordable books will be published in various Indian languages. “It will also provide suitable platform to authors and researchers willing to contribute in this genre,” Sharma added.

The NBT is running #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks initiative to keep people intellectually engaged by uploading pdf copies of 100 popular books, which can be downloaded for free. Efforts are also on to increase the numbers.

The NBT has set up a study group comprising psychologists and counsellors to prepare books on select topics for the corona series. “We hope to bring out both e-editions and printed editions of these books soon enough as support materials for the readers,” said Yuvraj Malik, director.

Children’s books like Our Corona Warriors will also be part of the series. “Books focused on art, literature, folklore, economic and sociological aspects, science/health awareness emerging out of the corona pandemic, and the lockdown, are also in the pipeline,” said Kumar Vikram, Senior Editor and project leader.

NBT is a national body for book publishing and book promotion under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Also read:

• COVID-19 Lockdown: Happy reading initiative from National Book Trust
• COVID19 Lockdown: UGC promotes online courses for students, teachers

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