2024-02-21 20:36:45
On Great Martyr’s Day (February 21), the Amar Ekushey Book Fair saw more crowds than any other day. However, book sales have not increased in that proportion, the sellers said.
Salespersons of various stalls said that although the crowd at the book fair is more than before, no one is buying books that way. Many people came to the book fair today on the Great Martyr’s Day and International Mother Language Day. Most of them are roaming from stall to stall, but not buying books.
A salesman at the Panjeri Publications stall told RisingBD, ‘The book fair has seen an increase in visitors compared to other days. But, book buyers did not grow that way. Not even 60 percent of the books were sold as we expected. However, we are hopeful that book sales will increase along with visitors in the remaining days.’
A person who came to the book fair said, I can’t find books by good writers in the fair. Maybe already sold out. There are more worthless books than quality books. The price of the book is also very high.
Mamun, a student of philosophy department of Dhaka University (DU) who came to the fair, said, ‘Compared to last time, this time there are more stalls but quality books are less. Except for some notable publications, most of the stalls are stocked with substandard books.’
On the Great Martyr’s Day, many people come to the Central Shaheed Minar from dawn to pay homage to language martyrs. Many of them go to the nearest book fair. A large number of people were seen entering the fair throughout the day.