Kendrapara: The book fairs, which were hitherto confined only to urban precincts, are spreading fast towards rural pockets of the district.

The book fair that is being organised at Rajnagar mofussil town has attracted book lovers in large numbers while also providing a platform to publishers and booksellers. A sizeable chunk of visitors are school and college students.

"At a time when e-books are fast emerging as alternative medium for readers in urban centres, books are still very much in demand for people living in rural pockets," said organising committee member of the Rajnagar book fair Jagannath Das.

This year's fair has been quite a success considering that the sale of books and footfall has surpassed the expectations of the organisers. A couple of years ago, we started organising the fair on an experimental basis. However, the event has been an overall success, he said.

"The purchase power of rural readers is always low compared with those in urban centres. But interest and enthusiasm are quite high among the rural readers. To suit the needs of the rural readers, we have put up kiosks of children's books and puranic and religious books. We have registered good sales figures so far," said publisher Radhakant Rout.

Bibliophiles had ample choice of choosing their books from a wide range of subjects in both English and Odia, right from religion and philosophy to fiction and non-fiction. However, the sale of English books was on a lower side.

Academic books are also available at the fair, said an organiser. "The sale of study materials and academic books is satisfactory. The kiosks selling academic books are the first choice of young buyers."