35th Malda Book Fair concludes, ‘records sale of about Rs 2 crore’

Malda: Among sheer enthusiasm of book lovers, the 35th Malda Book Fair came to an end on January 15, selling books worth nearly Rs 2 crore. The fair that commenced on January 8 recorded a footfall of nearly 1 lakh 40 thousand, as estimated by the book fair committee.

The district officials and the committee members are overjoyed with the statistics establishing Malda Book Fair as one of the biggest in the state of Bengal.

While inaugurating the fair, Siddiqullah Chowdhury, state minister of Mass Education Extension and Library Services, said that books worth almost Rs 1.5 crore were sold in the previous edition of the fair.

Debabrata Das, district library officer (DLO), said: “A rough estimate shows the sale of books worth nearly Rs 2 crore. The exact amount can only be ascertained after accumulating all the papers. As for footfall, it has been no less than 1.4 lakh.”

Various cultural and educational programmes were arranged throughout the tenure of the fair, including shows of various artists from the district and Kolkata, quizzes, seminars, career counselling by the district magistrate of Malda, dance, drama and many more.

Many books from the authors and poets of Malda and other districts were also unveiled in these days.

The organisers also set up 3 selfie zones for the attraction of the people. A senior citizens’ corner was also set up which hosted a number of discussions and literary events. A huge number of children and others participated in various competitions during the fair.

The final day of the event witnessed the presence of well-known singer, Raghab Chatterjee, from Kolkata who pulled a huge gathering at the Bidhushekhar Shastri stage.

Prasenjit Das, joint secretary of the book fair committee, said: “Our goal is to make the children read books but not online. We shall work further to spread books to every corner of the district. The success of the book fair will enthuse us.”