Tiruvallur book fair concludes on March 17 with positive response
The book fair was spread across six acres and hosted 108 stalls with amenities like eateries, toilets and wheelchairs
Visitors going through the titles on display at the book fair under way at the exhibition grounds on CV Naidu Salai
CHENNAI: The book fair organised by the Tiruvallur collectorate in association with the Book Sellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) will conclude today (March 17) at the exhibition ground in CV Naidu Salai, Tiruvallur. The fair began on March 7 and has seen the attendance of four lakh people so far. However, booksellers opine that the profit was minimal for the venue.
Tiruvallur collector M Prathap said, "The main idea is to cultivate reading habits in rural areas, and it is a long process. We made entry free to encourage their visit. We even made announcements through municipal vehicles for waste collection."
A first-time visitor, R Chandrasekaran (40), shared that this was his first book fair visit and he bought four books for him and his family. M Raj, an ardent reader, visited the book fair for eight days and stated that he had purchased books for Rs 15,000. "This is my fourth year visiting the book fair. No recent releases are available, previous years' editions are available," he said.
Tamil, a tuition teacher, took the initiative to bring 40 of her students to inculcate reading habits, and said, "The books can change their lives."
The book fair was spread across six acres and hosted 108 stalls with amenities like eateries, toilets and wheelchairs.
Booksellers elaborated on their worry over poor book sales throughout the fair and that they earned Rs 1,500 - Rs 2,000 per day on average and on bad days it dipped even to Rs 100 - Rs 200. On weekends, sales reached the range of Rs 3,000 - Rs 5,000, which is average compared to other districts' book fairs, considering the entry was free of cost.
Veeramani G of Ethir Publications said stalls even saw the attendance of people from Kancheepuram, "Different varieties of books are available from Sahitya Akademi winning books to short stories, ranging from Rs 15 to Rs 1,300. But people choose books below Rs 200."
Sabarinathan G of Lotus Multimedia said the weekends were busy and only three days recorded good sales. "Sales picked up on the penultimate day and we are happy to see more people in the fair," he said.
