A book fair ahead of the International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF) has started at Bidhan Sishu Udyan at Ultadanga.
The fourth Calcutta district book fair is being organised by the mass education and library science department. “The last three editions were held at Mohd Ali Park, Park Circus Maidan and Netaji Indoor Stadium. This fair is targeted at government libraries across the district which come to purchase books from their allotted budget but individual buyers are welcome as well,” said an official. Libraries get 15-20 per cent disco
The entrance to the fair. Sudeshna Banerjee
Featuring 90 stalls, the fair has attracted well-known publishers like Dey’s Publishing, Mitra & Ghosh Publishers, Patra Bharati and Deb Sahitya Kutir alongside a host of lesser-known publishers as also publishers in Santhali and Urdu languages.
The inauguration took place on Sunday in presence of minister for industries, commerce and enterprises Shashi Panja and Siddiqullah Choudhury, the mass education extension and library sciences minister.
Choudhury said the department was mulling a global membership using which anyone from any corner could get access to the 2.5 crore books stocked at the state libraries across Bengal. This includes the two lakh books in the collection of the State Central Library, located just behind the Udyan.
This was the third book fair that was being held at the children’s training institute near Ultadanga crossing. “Earlier, the Publishers and Booksellers Guild had participated in 2018 with a pavilion. In 2021, we held a proper book fair with 41 stalls. This time, the department approached us for space to hold this fair,” said Udyan secretary Gautam Talukdar.
Atulya Smriti Sabhaghar, a 60-seater seminar room with a podium that can sit about six people, was inaugurated on the day. “We are ready to rent it for programmes as well,” Talukdar said.
Guild general secretary Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey said winters were chock-a-block with book fairs. “Today there are 13 book fairs happening across the state. It is tough for us to attend everything,” he smiled. He urged the gathering of parents of the Udyan’s young members to revive the habit of presenting books in birthdays, weddings and rice ceremony.
With the IKBF set to start early this year, from January 18 at the Central Park fairgrounds, he said there were attempts to add more stalls. “There will be more book releases at the fair than ever before in recent years,” he said, adding that children must be exposed to books at home which was the only way to stop them from being sucked into mobile addiction.
At the Projapoti stall, Asterix titles are selling at Rs 499. “We had some old stock left. The new price is Rs 599 now,” said the salesman. Deb Sahitya Kutir has brought the complete collection of the adventures of Bengal’s first woman detective Krishna, written by Prabhabati Devi Saraswati in end-19th century. Another title doing well, said the salesman, is two volumes of Manabendra Pal’s ghost stories from the Shuktara archives.
Booksellers had one complaint — the position of the food stalls. “They should not have been located between us and the entrance. People will simply eat and leave,” a stall keeper said.
The Ultadanga fair will be on till December 24, 12noon to 8pm.