The Karachi Festival of Books and Libraries (KFBL), co-founded by Aziz Memon and Syed Khalid Mahmood, with Senator Sarmad Ali as patron, was launched in 2024 as the first festival in Pakistan dedicated not only to books but to libraries themselves. Inaugurated by former President Arif Alvi at the Governor House on March 2, 2024, the festival quickly established its place in the city’s cultural calendar. While literature festivals and book fairs have long existed, none had focused on promoting libraries and encouraging their use — a gap KFBL set out to fill.
Held successfully in 2024 and 2025, the festival was conceived as a pilot project in Karachi, aimed particularly at middle- and lower-middle-income families who rely on public libraries for learning and self-improvement. Many libraries in the city remain underutilised due to lack of awareness. KFBL seeks to bridge that gap by bringing libraries, publishers and readers together under one platform. The book fair component has offered discounted titles, while some stalls have distributed books and stationery free of cost to visitors in need.
The festival is produced by Jumbo Publishing in collaboration with the English-Speaking Union of Pakistan, with Jang Media Group as media partner. The National Book Foundation and the National Library of Pakistan have extended support to the initiative, which aligns with their mandate to promote reading culture.
After two successful editions, plans are underway to take the festival to Islamabad and Lahore, while confirming the third Karachi edition in December 2026. What began as a self-help initiative now seeks broader institutional and corporate support to expand its reach. The objective remains simple: to strengthen Pakistan’s book and library culture and make access to knowledge easier for those who need it most.
