15 lakh book lovers visit book fair, Rs.18 crore worth books sold
This year the fair which was held for 19 days had a footfall of more than 15 lakhs people. The 15 lakh visitors included large number of students who were given free entry.
47th Chennai Book Fair (Photo: Agathesh)
CHENNAI: The 47th Chennai book fair organized by BAPASI (Booksellers and Publishers Association of South Asia) concluded on Sunday at YMCA grounds, Nandanam.
Around 900 stalls were set up this year selling books at a minimum of 10 percent discount which is a BAPASI rule.
"This year the fair which was held for 19 days had a footfall of more than 15 lakhs people. The 15 lakh visitors included large number of students who were given free entry. Books worth 18 crores were sold this year during the fair. In the year 2023, books worth 10 crores were sold and this year there is an increase in sales of 8 crores. This year, for the first time the footfall of students alone crossed 1 lakh" said S K Murugan, BAPASI Secretary.
The highest sale was on Pongal and the next day and the maximum number of visitors were also on the same day. There was a footfall of 40,000 on Pongal, he added.
This year the book fair was closed for a day due to the rains, it affected the sale but was able to cope up with other days. Children's books had the highest sale this year which is another achievement in this digital era to bring them back into reading.
The Secretary also mentioned that BAPASI welcomes the publishers from other languages in the following years and all the support will be given from their side.
Chennai being a city with multiculturalism there is a high chance for sale for books from other languages and authors also.
"The stalls are set up well like every other year. There is a suggestion to the organisers to upgrade on finding stalls. Locating the stalls through brochures is outdated and expects a minimum of a kiosk in each counter to guide the visitors. Also when people compare the rates with the 10 percent discount alone must be checked upon and reaching the book fair hall is a long stretch. If these issues are looked upon it would be even better" said K Gomathi, a visitor.
Madras High Court Judge R Mahadevan spoke during the closing ceremony and appreciated the various publishers who had completed 100, 50 and 25 years of publishing.