Jamshedpur: The 33rd Jam-shedpur Book Fair, which concluded on Sunday, saw a footfall of around 50,000 and did a brisk business of Rs 52 lakh.

Officials of The Tagore Society, which organised the 10-day fair, said after last year's massacre because of demonetisation, this year was better.

"Books worth Rs 52 lakh were sold although e-commerce played spoilsport. We hope to do something new next year to attract more book lovers," said The Tagore Society secretary Ashis Choudhury.

Sellers and visitors were univocal in saying that the demand for CBSE and ICSE test papers was very high. Sale of novels and story books were less compared to textbooks.

"I don't like reading novels. I like reading short stories. I came to the fair to checkout for books on painting. I think there are few youngsters who read novels," said Devanshi Karmakar, a Class-VII student of Little Flower School.

Most people with whom this correspondent spoke to felt that e-books were becoming popular by the day. They also felt that buying books online was much easier since it's delivered at the doorstep.

"What's the use of coming to the book fair when you don't get books of your choice. Ultimately you have to depend on e-commerce websites that deliver books of your choice at your doorstep. It's high time that organisers should do something different to make it better," said Arunima Singh Bhaskar, a professional.