Visitors check out different titles at the Big Book Fair in Bhubaneswar on Monday.

The fair that began on February 5 are selling books by weight this time. English bestsellers are pegged at Rs 200 per kg, children's and academic books can be purchased at Rs 100 per kg. The "not-so-popular" English fiction and non-fiction books are also available at Rs 100 per kg.

Bookseller B.M. Allauddin of Bangalore, who aims to make books affordable to the readers from all sections of society, has taken up the book-per-kilo concept to promote his business.

Allauddin, who have been in the book business for over 30 years, said: "Over the past few years, the sale of books from brick and mortar shops has come down considerably due to the online reading and buying facilities. The idea is to attract more people to read books and visit bookshops."

He has conducted such fairs in Mysore, Chennai and Calcutta.

A large number of recently released books are also available at 50 per cent discount.

The fair will continue till February 25. Allauddin has tied up with a Bhubaneswar-based book agent to host the fair.

The response has been fine, said one of the organisers. "The concept of buying books by weight is quite new to the city. That is why it would take a little time for the people to understand the noble concept," said Santosh Jani, a local agent. Jani said books had been procured in bulk from countries such as the US and the UK by his foreign agents and shipped in containers to India.

"Most of these books are published abroad. While a few of them are second hand, a number of books are brand new," said Jani.

Sabyasachi Jana, a 31-year-old photographer, admits that he is bowled over by the idea. "I have purchased around 5kg books, and I like the deal. I will bring my cousins and buy them children's books this weekend," he said.

However, a few visitors appeared unhappy with the collection of books. "The books are from lesser known writers from the UK and the US, and I am not interested in them. I would rather go for bestsellers," said Sweety Samantray, an IT professional.

 

Text by Anwesha Ambaly

Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee