In first four days, book fair registers record 14 lakh visitors, 10% higher sales

Kolkata: The first four days of the 49th International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF), which was an extended holiday weekend from Friday to Monday, saw a massive footfall of nearly 14 lakh at the fairground, as per estimates by the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the organisers of the book fair.Guild officials said that about 1.5 lakh visitors came to the fairground on Tuesday, taking the footfall to nearly 15.5 lakh so far. With another week to go, the fair is likely to cross all previous footfall records. Last year, around 27 lakh visitors thronged the book fairground.
"We are happy that so many book lovers are visiting the book fair. This shows that the love for books remains intact. We, from the guild, are trying our best to arrange all kinds of facilities as much as possible for the convenience of visitors who are coming to the fair," said Guild President Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey.After the first four days of heavy pedestrian traffic into the book fairground, there was a visible respite for the traffic police officers managing the traffic outside the fairground on Tuesday.Guild officials said that book sales were also quite encouraging, with about 10% higher sales so far compared to the first four to five days of the fair last year."People are buying books, which is quite encouraging. In the first four days, which was an extended holiday weekend, there was around 10% higher book sales compared to the corresponding period last year," said Guild General Secretary Tridib Chatterjee.Guild officials said that book lovers are querying the new books which were released at the book fair this time. "Along with the popular old-time classics and non-fiction, which are always in demand among book lovers, many are flipping the pages and also buying scientific research-oriented books. Book lovers are also in search of new writers and authors whose books were released in stalls of different publishing houses. The children's book stalls and little magazine pavilion are also drawing a huge crowd. Over 1,000 new books were released at the book fair this time," said a guild official.Guild officials said that Bangladesh is missing for the second year in a row, but many are looking for books by Bangladeshi writers, which are found in the stalls of different Indian publishing houses."Books written by Bangladeshi poets, authors and novelists like Humayun Ahmed, Jasimuddin, Anisuz Zaman and Sadat Hossain are always in demand," said a guild official."The absence of the Bangladesh pavilion could be felt, as we could flip through the pages of many books by different Bangladeshi poets and writers from one single place," said Antara Banerjee, a resident of Salt Lake.