The ten-day Ranchi Book Fair at Town Hall came to a close on Monday, but the turnout remained way less than expected, given the titles showcased at the book fair. The stalls of well-known publishers and book stores of the city, decked with works of renowned classical and contemporary authors drew book enthusiasts from the all over the city, but their numbers remained paltry.
“The footfall was not as much as we expected, although the visitors showed interest in all kinds of books presented here. Youngsters and teenagers came in more numbers as compared to older age groups,” said Manish, the proprietor of a city-based book store which had put up its stall at the book fair.
“Around 25,000 book lovers visited the book fair in the past ten days and books worth more than Rs20 lakh were purchased by them. In these ten days, several cultural events were organised for the visitors to pique their interest,” informed Ashish Ranjan Dikshit of Baseline Foundation, one of the organisers of the book fair.
The books up for display spanned across a vast array of genres and topics. There were books for students preparing for competitive examinations, along with literary works from both fiction and non-fiction genres authors from India and abroad.
From Munshi Premchand to William Shakespeare, from Arthur Conan Doyle to Agatha Christie and many more writers were featured at the book fair. Works ranging from Stories by Rabindranath Tagore to The White Tiger by Amitav Ghosh to Scion of Ikshvaku were put for sale at the stalls in the fair.
Recent and previous books written by former President APJ Abdul Kalam were appreciated by one and all. Books about tribal literature and history of Jharkhand were also put for the visitors. Several religious organisations had also put their stalls, with special discount for students.
“Such book fairs are a good opportunity for the enthusiasts to get hold of books that are usually hard to find in book shops. Even though it is the last day, the collection on display here is quite remarkable,” said Pravesh Kumar.
Keeping in touch with changing times, some stalls also marketed instructive learning aid in digital form. DVDs with information on various topics including computer sciences, information technology and many more were much appreciated and purchased during the book fair. Handicraft and herbal products were also put for sale.