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If you are a bookworm and have a deep affinity for old books, then the Nilkhet book market in Dhaka is a paradise for you.
It all started in the 1970s when some scattered shops started selling books and stationery to students. A book market sprawled out of those after 1974. Since then, Nilkhet has been a hub for both old and new books for students and people of Dhaka and elsewhere.
The emotions of touching a 10- or 50-year-old book, the printing styles and the reputation of publishers have been bringing the buyers back and keeping the market going for decades.
Unlike the western and touristy countries, there are not a lot of sellers and buyers of old collectables here. Although the lack of antiquing does not hamper the value of old books of Nilkhet, which is situated opposite of the always busy New Market, the bookshop owners are finding it hard nowadays to find buyers.
There is another reason behind the appeal of old or second-hand books — specially the textbooks. Readers, mostly students, want to buy them at a cheaper rate and at Nilkhet, they can do that without putting much pressure on their wallets.
During a visit to Nilkhet, this correspondent met Sumaiya Islam, a fourth-year student of BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology, who came from Uttara to buy some books.
Talking to The Business Post while buying the books from Nandail Literature Book Centre, she said, “Old books are like time capsules. You are not just buying a book. You are buying a piece of history.”
Jagannath University student Mobarok Hussain came to Nilkhet to buy a book named “Bengali Culture: Over a Thousand Years” by Ghulam Murshid.
At first, he searched for a second-hand copy of the book as it is cheaper. Failing to find an old copy, he opted to buy a photocopy version to save a little more money.
Asked why old books are becoming scarce, a salesman at Alvi Book House said, “We usually buy and collect books from private collectors and various other sources. But we stopped sourcing books temporarily after the Covid-19 pandemic greatly reduced our sales.”
Alvi Book House is one of the few shops in Nilkhet with a vast collection of rare and old books. The shop is in trouble as they are struggling to sell.
Another salesman at the store, Mustafa said online book selling business and PDF books are among the notable reasons why sales are going down.
In the era of technology…
At Nilkhet, many people buy pirated books, also known as photocopy prints, instead of the old ones because they look new. But the pirated books now cost more as the increase in paper price has also pushed up the photocopying charges.
In theory, the rise in pirated book prices should divert customers toward old books. But according to sellers, sales are still decreasing amid the post-pandemic recovery period.
Nayeem Islam, who has been working in book shops for over a decade, told The Business Post that not many people want to buy books in this era of technology.
“Most from Generation Z do not like reading books and young students who really want to read books sometimes go for downloading PDFs. There are not many people anymore who appreciate the emotion of touching and smelling a book,” he said.
The best-selling old book genre in the market is literature, mostly by Humayun Ahmed, Humayun Azad, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Samaresh Majumdar and some other Indian writers.
According to sellers, old books published by Indian writers and publishers are in high demand. People also tend to collect Seba Prokashoni books that are comparatively expensive. But the most expensive ones are Bangla books published in Russia by Bengali publishers, which are at least several decades old and are among the rarest.
Academic books losing relevance?
The sales rate of old academic books at the capital’s oldest and largest book market is more upsetting.
Md Shah Alam of Alam Book Centre is selling books since 2008. At first, he was a hawker and sold old academic books and magazines. He rented a small shop at Nilkhet six years ago as the sale was good.
“The business was promising but the pandemic spelt a disaster for sellers like me. Since things started to return to normal, we have been trying to recover from our losses. But the ever-changing syllabuses, short suggestions and the supplement culture have greatly affected our sales,” he said.
“Books are getting outdated within six months. How can we sell books in this situation?” he said expressing frustration.
Redwan Khan, a sociology student at Dhaka College, could not find a textbook from last year after searching for an hour. “Students don’t read the whole book. We photocopy a part of it or sometimes take pictures of the pages we need to prepare for the exams. But what do we do when we can’t find the books?”
Talking to The Business Post, bookseller Robiul said, “Students only study to pass the exams. Higher secondary and primary level students now read supplements and get a short syllabus [because of the pandemic]. They don’t need the whole textbook or guidebooks. That’s why sales are down.”
More problems
At present, there are over 500 book shops at Nilkhet market which are members of three cooperative societies that oversee the needs and maintenance of the market. The number of shops increases every year but owners or tenants are distressed about the decreasing sales rate.
The book market also has some legal issues that are hampering the collective efforts to improve the conditions of almost 5,000 people, including shop owners and workers.
Moreover, the total data for the market’s sales and profit is not available as all three cooperative societies lack proper management and coordination.
Many traders have lost their capital during the pandemic and are yet to recover the losses. At the same time, with the number of shops increasing, the traders said they are not making the same amount of sales and profit as they used to from the little number of buyers who still come to the market.
Md Giyas Uddin, a director of Islamia Market Traders Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd, said, “There is an ownership issue over the land upon which the market is situated. We are trying to get a lease to build a multi-storeyed market.
“Without an organized market system, it’s very difficult to get loans and develop the business to attract more customers.”
He continued, “We won’t be able to solve all the issues. Even if we manage to develop the multi-storeyed market, we still won’t find enough customers in future as there aren’t that many lovers of old books, most of the people now depend on smart technologies and not all guardians nowadays encourage their children to read books.”
Collective efforts from the administration, sellers and readers have become necessary to rejuvenate the love for books and increase readership along the way. Otherwise, the decades-old Nilkhet book market may face more crises in the near future from which it would not be able to survive.
