The Ministry of Sports and Culture, in conjunction with the Rwanda Library Services, will on Monday launch a community library in Rulindo to kick-start the annual reading festival.

The focus for this year’s festival will be on promoting local publications.

Addressing journalists at Amahoro Stadium, yesterday, Sports and Culture minister Joseph Habineza said the current local publications need to be supported to improve quality so as to meet international standards and marketability.

"Authors need to be business-oriented through maintaining creativity to attract more readers since only good books can garner high sales on the shelves,” Habineza said.

The minister said before publishing any book, local authors ought to seek advice from different people along the book chain such as editors, marketers and publishers.

"There is a tendency of local writers handling everything in the publication process,” Habineza added.The Book Reading Festival is a nationwide event.

Stephen Mugisha, the chairperson of Rwanda Publishers and Book Sellers Union, called on the public to develop interest in local publications.

"Locally-produced books are among the most affordable on shelves yet few people read them,” he said.Mugisha said parents should encourage their children to read books published by Rwandans because of the centrality and proximity of the themes.

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