CHENNAI/COIMBATORE: After the announcement in the budget that the State will have book fairs in all districts, similar to the famous Chennai Book Fair, stakeholders are optimistic of an increase in book sales. The government has also allotted Rs 5.6 crore to organise book fair in all districts.
Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) members said the announcement would come as a boon for hundreds of publishers. BAPASI president S Vairavan told TNIE, “This is the first time allocating space for book fairs has found mention in the budget. With this, the State has created a permanent platform for publishers.”
BAPASI’s former vice-president G Olivannan said a few days ago, Chief Minister MK Stalin had assured to set up a permanent book park. Now, he has allotted Rs 5.6 crore for book fairs in all districts. “This is the finest period for the book publishing industry,” he said and added, “By organising more book fairs, the government is trying to promote reading habit among people. We (publishers) will also cooperate with the government and bring out more titles.”
In the budget, it was announced that a high-level committee has been formed to assess the functioning of public libraries and make recommendations for improvement. Central libraries with modern infrastructure would also be set up in the newly-created six districts at an estimated cost of Rs 36 crore.
Besides, the government has said that activities such as book readings will be promoted as a people’s movement. A branch librarian in Coimbatore, J Shivakumar told TNIE, “We welcome these decisions. Librarians had presented a list of inadequacies in libraries. We hope that the State solves the issues step-by-step.”