Bibliophiles throng Book Fair as new books arrive

Following a busy first weekend, the Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Sunday saw a good number of visitors as hundreds of bibliophiles thronged the Suhrawardy Udyan venue for the newly arrived books.

According to Bangla Academy, a total of 303 new books have been published at the fair so far. Of them, 73 were released on Sunday.

The number of publications at the fair is feared to reduce by 50 per cent this year compared to the last year since the prices of paper and books witnessed a 100 per cent and 22 per cent increase, respectively, compared to the last year, according to Bangladesh Publishers and Booksellers Association (BAPUS).

Despite these issues, alongside high inflation, booklovers are still visiting the Book Fair with family and friends and buying books they love.

Kakoli Prokashoni Publisher AK Nasir Ahamed Selim said, “People are coming to the fair and buying books. Even though they are suffering economically, they are still spending money on what they love.”

“We saw a good number of sales in the last two days. Today’s sales have been good too. This year’s Book Fair has been going well from the start. We are hoping it will be a successful year for the publishers,” he added.

Md Amjad Hossain Khan Kajal, a senior executive at Oitijjhya, said, “Buying books for your collection or giving as gifts — this has become a culture. That’s why we have seen good sales and more people coming every day. The young generation prefers poem books while the senior citizens prefer books of essays.”

“We have come up with around 200 new publications this year. Despite the rising prices, the sale of new arrivals is good. We are also offering different types of discounts on new books and books that were published last year,” he added.

Bangla Academy official SM Arifur Rahman said the academy will introduce 35 new publications at this year’s fair. Seven of them have already been released and there is a good demand for them.

Quality questioned

Meanwhile, there is a mixed reaction to the quality of new books’ content. Readers said they are struggling to find notable books at the fair. They also complained about the quality of the paper.

Visitor Nur Goni said he was struggling to find children’s books with quality content and paper. “Most of the books are printed copies and it is not suitable for children.”

Md Monirul Hoque, a publisher, alleged that many books are published every year but all of them do not maintain quality and are not notable. Many authors are writing just for the sake of writing and not for serving the requirement of booklovers. “This is why there is a lack of quality books in the market,” he alleged.

However, several authors rejected the notion and said writers face many challenges but they are still coming up with quality and creative books for all.

Poet and writer Audity Falguni Gayen said there are many quality and creative books in the market. “But the focus on quality over quantity should increase more to make a knowledge-based and creative society.”