Guwahati: Book lovers in Jorhat are in for a treat as a group of Delhi-based booksellers from the organisation ‘Booktale’ has brought over 2,50,000 books to the upper Assam town for the first time, selling those in a unique way.
At this book fair, boasted as India’s biggest, buyers only pay for the boxes — termed “story boxes” — in which they can put any book of their choice, rather than paying for the books themselves. The smaller boxes are priced at Rs 1,500 each, while the larger boxes cost Rs 2,500. The fair, held in Jorhat’s Tarajan area, offers a wide range of genres, including novels, crime thrillers, children’s literature, and books on war and history.
The larger boxes can accommodate around 20-25 books, while the smaller ones can hold 10-15. This event, a collaboration between Jorhat-based history enthusiast Avinibesh Sharma and Booktale, started on Thursday and will continue until Sunday.
Talking to TOI, Sharma said the bookfair aims to shape the minds of the youth in this educated town by fostering reading habits.
“Jorhat is home to several prominent educational institutions and boasts a high literacy rate. While students today have access to various platforms for information, nothing compares to the classic experience of holding a book and turning its pages. Such book fairs are often seen in Guwahati, so we wanted to introduce the youth of Jorhat and nearby districts to this experience for the first time. We plan to make this an annual event,” Sharma added.
He expressed satisfaction with the visitor turnout over the past two days.
Hat Rathod of Booktale mentioned that while over 70,000 books are currently on display, they have around 180,000 books in stock for the fair. “Similar book fairs have been organized in Patna and Andhra Pradesh, and we have showcased the highest number of books, making this India’s biggest book fair organized by individual booksellers. The footfall of book lovers has already exhausted our 10-member team in just two days, and we are optimistic about achieving good sales by the end of the fair,” he said.
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