Digital map to guide bibliophiles at International Kolkata Book Fair this year

Kolkata: A digital map will help bibliophiles locate their favourite publishers among the over 1,000 stalls at the upcoming International Kolkata Book Fair, organisers Publishers and Booksellers' Guild said.

The map, which can be accessed on mobile phones by scanning QR codes at entry points of the venue of the fortnight-long fair scheduled to begin on January 18, will exhibit details of publishers and the list of available books, Guild president Tridib Chatterjee said.

"It has been noticed that many people find it difficult to locate their favourite publishers in the mammoth crowds. Hence, the Guild, with assistance from a well-known private tech institute, has devised the android application for bibliophiles," he told reporters on Monday.

He said that 26 lakh people had visited the fair last year and books worth Rs 25 crore were sold.

In previous years, printed guide maps, listing the stalls with numbers, were available at one corner of the venue and were exhausted before many bibliophiles could get hold of one.

For those coming to the book fair from other districts for one or two days, visiting all of their favourite stalls and procuring books was a herculean task at times, Saroj Malakar, a little magazine stall owner, said.

Guild general secretary Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey said the organisers have launched an initiative, 'Buy books and win a Book Library', under which the person buying the highest number of books will be gifted a book-filled shelf as a commitment to foster reading habits.

Also, 'Book Bumper Library Lottery' will be organised and the winners will win book gift coupons of Rs 25,000 each.

Replicas of London's Tower Bridge and Kolkata's Bethune School will be erected at the venue.

The fair will be inaugurated on January 18 at Boimela Prangan in Salt Lake near Kolkata by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the presence of British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis.

Dey said around 20 countries will participate in the book fair.