GUWAHATI: The 34th Assam book fair held in Guwahati has seen a massive footfall amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The 12-day fair started on December 29 and will continue till January 9. Over Rs 3 crore worth of books and Rs 7 lakh worth of tickets were sold till the 9th day of the book fair. The publishers association told G Plus that the organisers are expecting an overall turnover of Rs 10 crore solely from the sale of books.
Thousands have visited the Assam Engineering Institute (AEI) field in Chandmari every day since the fair began, according to organisers. “The Assam book fair has been witnessing a footfall of 25,000 to 30,000 people every day since it began,” the Secretary of Assam Publishers and Booksellers Association (APBA) Dhiraj Goswami said. The organisers have told G Plus that an overall footfall of 6-7 lakh is being expected during the course of the 12-day event.
“It is indeed great news for us that even amid Covid, we were able to sell Rs 3 crore worth of books on Day 9 of the event. We expect the turnover to drastically increase during the weekend, which will be the penultimate and the ultimate day of the book fair,” Dhiraj Goswami added.
Assam Vidhan Sabha speaker Biswajit Daimary, who attended Thursday's program said that it gives him hope to see Guwahatians pursuing their love for reading to cope with the pandemic in such large numbers. “It gives me satisfaction to see that the turnover in this book fair is like any other fair. The huge turnover shows that the influence of books is increasing among the people here,” Biswajit Daimary said.
The Assam Book Fair has been organised jointly by the Publication Board Assam, and the All Assam Publishers and Book Sellers Association in Guwahati.
People from all age groups, various educational and professional backgrounds from various parts of the State thronged the venue. Books written by Sahitya Akademi award winners were the bestsellers, with 10,000 copies of it being sold.
The book store owners and organisers have expressed their excitement seeing youngsters and college-goers storming the book fair in large numbers to revamp their libraries. “Even in the age of the internet, youngsters today are taking a keen interest in reading books on various topics. It gives us hope to see the youth returning to their roots and grabbing a book as a respite from pandemic woes,” an owner of a book stall said.