Discounts and more at Book Fair
It’s time for the Colombo International Book Fair . Pic by Kithsiri De Mel
The Colombo International Book Fair is here yet again.
The book fair is organised every year by the Book Publishers’ Association and is held at the BMICH. This year, the fair offers bookworms a 20% discount on all books being sold. There will be 410 stalls this year, with 60 stalls comprising foreign publishers. While crisp new novels are a favourite among patrons of the book fair, the chance to bag second hand books at a more reasonable price should not be missed either. The second hand book stalls will be in front of the Mihilaka Medura this time. Stationery can also be bought at a more reasonable price, with famous stationary brands such as Promate, Weerodara, Richard and the State Printing Corporation (SPC) all having stalls this year.
The Sunday Times spoke to some of the leading bookstores in Sri Lanka to find out what they have to offer. Most bookshops offer a 20% discount on novels, while certain books have discounts of up to 75%.
Sarasavi Bookshop will offer 20-30% discounts on all books. Their stall has been further divided into three smaller stalls for different types of books. Their main stall has textbooks, fiction and non-fiction books. Books from foreign publishers will be sold at one stall while Sarasavi publications and bargain books will occupy the other two stalls. They also offer a special service for people who do not have time to wait in line to buy their books where customers can contact the cashier and have the books stored for them or even delivered to their house.
The M.D.Gunasena stall will be hosting a book signing where authors such as Sybil Wettasinghe, Shyam S. Dissanayake, Surangi De Alwis and Daya De Alwis will be signing their books at a designated time. The book store will be offering stationery at a 15% discount and bargain books at a 75% discount. The bargain books are being sold at K hall. They will also offer textbooks for university students at a 20% discount.
Makeen Bookshop has children’s books, cookery, fiction, novels and international school textbooks. All books will be sold with a 20% discount.
VijithaYapa Bookshop has fiction, cookery, children’s books and novels being sold at a 20% discount.
Expographic (Pvt) Ltd. will be selling textbooks for most university courses from Medicine, Engineering, Management and Law being offered at state universities to external degrees being offered at various institutes. They will also be selling a special series of Medical books which have been imported from India. They will also be selling books for professionals in all fields and popular novels.
The book fair that began on Friday will be on until September 25 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the BMICH.