Miffed over Bengaluru Book Festival banning the sale of used books, second-hand book sellers are mulling over an alternative event of their own.
The application to avail a stall at the festival states that “second hand/pirated books are strictly not allowed to be sold”. It goes onto levy a fine of Rs. 5,000 on anybody selling such books. Used-book sellers are furious that their trade is being clubbed with sale of pirated books, a crime.
K.K.S. Murthy of the Select Book House said he had participated in numerous book fests across the world and not one banned used books. “The used-book sellers are trying to organise themselves and hold a parallel used and rare book festival, to challenge the retailers,” he said. He said though the organisers of the festival had said he was welcome to participate since he was a seller of antique books, he was in principle against banning used books.
Guruprasad D. Narayana of Akruthi Books said they were working out the modalities of an alternative festival for at least one weekend during the Bengaluru Book Festival. He expressed confidence that book lovers would find their collection attractive.
However, Nitin Shah, chairman of Bangalore Booksellers and Publishers Association, the organisers of the festival, defended the move saying used books would hit at the business of retailers and publishers, which had prompted a ban.
Banning used books from the fair has also faced opposition from readers. City-based historian and book enthusiast Ramchandra Guha said, “The fun of a book festival was in the serendipity of finding unknown and rare books among used books. Banning used books from the festival is a retrograde move probably pushed by retailers organising the festival,” he said.
K.C. Shivareddy, associate professor with Kuvempu University and an avid book collector, said it was undemocratic to ban books and the move clearly showed the reader was not the focus of the book fair.
