THE Georgetown Reading and Research Centre Book Festival of 2012 will be launched July 25 with more than the usual glow of previous activities, as the organization christens its brand new facilities at Woolford Avenue and Albert Street in the city. Now situated on a 38,000 square-foot area, the Georgetown Reading & Research Centre will have several tents for additional space to make this year’s event its biggest ever, according to director Rupert Hopkinson. Hopkinson said that a container of books for the festival has already arrived which will also enable the organization to exhibit, potentially, the greatest variety of books ever to be displayed in Guyana.
One feature of the festival that will run from Sunday to Sunday, 09:00hrs to 18:00hrs until September 30, will be a music and game session every Saturday at the play park, referred to as “Bookland Weekend Unwind”.
During the two-month showcase of more than 200,000 books, Hopkinson said that all books will be 20% to 50% off, and every buyer will get two to ten books free to help in the promotion of literacy. With the new mission “to put books in every household”, Hopkinson said that they have budgeted to contribute about 20,000 free books to the literacy drive in Guyana during the festival.
The Georgetown Reading and Research Centre was established in 1997 to provide affordable bookstore and library services to Guyanese from pre-school to university, and will soon introduce a new initiative called  PROJECT HOPE (Help Others Pursue Education) – a long-term programme to underscore businesses’ and citizens’ responsibility to support education.