Why are book sales inadequate at the book fair?

It has been 52 years since the Amar Ekushey Book Fair has been taking place. During this time, Bangladesh's GDP has surpassed 460 billion dollars. Additionally, per capita income has increased by 2,687 dollars. According to a report from the Bangladesh Bank last year, the number of millionaires in the country is currently 113,554. According to the 2021 survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, currently, there are 4 crore middle-income people in the country, whose daily income ranges from 2 to 20 dollars. The size of the country's business-commerce-entertainment sector is increasing every year. There is growth in food shops, shopping malls, picnic spots, and tourist spots. The demand for every daily necessity is increasing rapidly, not just for books. Only the demand for books is not increasing. In its 52 years of existence, the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, held for a month each year, has never reached sales of 100 crore taka which is vital for the country's prosperity.

Although the book fair is scheduled to end on the 29th according to the usual timeframe, at the request of publishers, it is extended by 2 days. As a result, the February book fair extends until March 2nd. This year's book fair is organized for 31 days. Shahed Momtaz, the Deputy Director of the Bangla Academy, announced at the closing ceremony of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair that the sales volume of books in the 2024 fair was 60 crore Taka.

In the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, the highest book sales record was 82 crore taka, which was achieved in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, due to the pandemic, book sales decreased to only 3 crore 11 lakh taka. In 2022, if the COVID situation improved slightly, sales increased to 52 crore 50 lakh taka. However, unfortunately, despite no political or global pandemic reasons, book sales decreased to 47 crore Taka in 2023. Even though there was a slight increase in the volume of book sales, it was not as promising as expected, as commented by many publishers. Additionally, extending the duration of the book fair by 2 days did not significantly increase the number of customers.

It can be estimated that the crowd of sightseers in the book fair this time has never been seen before. One reason for this is that the first metro rail was operational this time. As a result, people from the northern part of Dhaka have been coming to the book fair in groups. It has been observed from the beginning that compared to sightseers, there is very little buying and selling activity in the fair. Many have heard that if even 10 percent of the visitors to the fair bought books, all the publications would be sold out.

The point being made is why, despite the number of visitors to the book fair, the same number of books isn't being sold. Why is it that in a country with nearly 17 crore people, books worth only 100 crore Taka are not sold in a month-long book fair? However, in 2024, trade fairs have generated sales of 400 crore taka, with orders received worth 392 crore taka.

Those who argue that book sales are low due to inflation and rising commodity prices, how much of their claims are true? Moreover, there wasn't even any political instability this time. Daily life was normal. Yet, why were book sales so low? The Bangla Academy has stated that this year 3,751 books were published. Last year, this number was 3,730.

Book readership is decreasing worldwide. However, Kindle and e-book readers are increasing. The number of audiobook listeners is also increasing. However, it cannot be said that the overall number of readers or book lovers is increasing significantly in our country. It has been observed that only a fraction of the population reads books regularly. Due to the accessibility of technology and entertainment media, the busyness of modern life, uncertainty in livelihoods, and various other reasons, people are turning away from books. However, despite these factors, there is no alternative to reading books for self-discovery and for building a beautiful society and nation. The more attention we pay to this issue at the national level, the more prosperity we will achieve. Otherwise, Bangladesh's position in the Global Knowledge Index will never rise from bottom to top.