The month-long 'Amor Ekushey Grontho Mela' (Ekushey Book Fair) concluded Friday.
According to many book lovers, the fair this year has failed to meet their demand as the event witnessed lower numbers of new titles including fictions and popular books.
Stall owners at the month-long book festival displayed only 2,785 titles, the number of which was 3,070 last year, sources at Bangla Academy, organiser of the world's longest book fair, said.
According to sources, many publishers were hesitating to launch new books and take allotment of stalls fearing a fresh bout of political volatility in the country, which had left a negative impact on this year's fair.
"Most of the publishing houses didn't find enough time as well as necessary funds to publish books as the country had been experiencing its worst political mayhem centring on the 10th general election held on January 5, 2014," said Osman Gani, owner of Agami Prokashoni.
Mr Gani, also president of Bangladesh Academic and Creative Publishers' Association, told the FE that, however, their turnover at the fair was satisfactory.
Meanwhile, the fair-goers alleged that they had found few standard creative works at the stalls, not to mention the mismanagement including inadequate facilities for the visitors on the part of the authorities concerned.
Saiful Islam Lemon, a Masters' student of Dhaka University, said unfortunately, this year the book-lovers had found lesser numbers of creative books, and even research works.
Toma Sharmin, another visitor, blamed the authorities for mismanagement of the fair, saying that the fair-goers had not found even the directions necessary for visiting the fair, held at a different venue this year, although close to Bangla Academy, especially after dusk. Despite the wider expanse of the fair, dust remained a nuisance throughout the month.
A total of 2,785 titles hit the fair over the month which was 3,070 last year, while the total turnover has been estimated at Tk 160 million, said Bangla Academy Deputy Director Murshed Anwar.
Mr Anwar said that of the total amount, Bangla Academy sold books worth Tk 11 million, while the other publishers' share was Tk 149 million.
According to the Academy sources, of total titles, collections of poetry topped the list with 673 titles, against 771 in the last year, followed by 478 novels against 532 in 2013. 187 collections of short stories came out this year against 396 last year.
Also there were 362 collections of essays, 102 children's book, 85 memoirs and autobiographies, 69 'comics', 53 books on the Liberation War and 51 research works.
A total of 299 stalls with 534 units were allotted among the publishing houses. Of them, 432 units were allotted to 232 big publishers, 33 units to 24 children's book corners, and 69 units to 43 institutions including media centres, and 55 units to little magazines.
All the books, excluding Bangla Academy's, sold at 25 per cent commission at the fair, while the books of Bangla Academy sold at 30 per cent commission.
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