Dipchand Bihari, OP
Bhubaneswar: Summer vacation culminates before the commencement of the new academic session. Meanwhile, students and parents who should be busy collecting books are conspicuous by their absence at the book stalls these days. Interestingly, the crowd is around the second-hand bookstores near Master Canteen in the city.
Old books may be torn, worn out and old, but the shops selling second-hand books continue to draw students and guardians alike. Reason: Old books are available at an affordable price and the textbooks are full of underlined sentences marked with red pencils by some senior students who might have worked hard before the examinations.
An engineering student, Deepak Murmu, who has been buying old books since 2014, claimed second-books are cost effective for poor students. “Old books with same syllabus are available at a discount of 40 per cent. Therefore, this is the best choice for poor students to get their books.” He has already bought around 40 books so far, he adds.
Textbooks from Class VI to Class XII in addition to competitive books and books on engineering and management are available at a good price, says Dipti Rani Majhi, who is pursuing an IT course in Bhubaneswar. “Cost of new books is more than older ones. So I thought of visiting old books market. New books which cost about Rs 500 are available at a 40 per cent discount in old book stalls. So why can’t we go for that,” asked Dipti.
The main reason why students go for old books is their cost effectiveness. Old books have important passages and questions as well as key content marked red which are very useful for the students who buy second-hand books.
“The additional benefit of buying second-hand books is that some senior students might have marked important questions which frequently appear in the examinations. If we buy new books, it may take a few months for us to understand what questions are important for exams. But underlined content, which catches attention, also gives us the benefit of knowing our lessons well before the classes commence,” said Prem Swaroop Nayak, a Class XII student. Old books have proved to be advantageous for Prem.
Deepun Kumar Behera, who has set up his shop since 2007 said, “Everyday, about 500 students from all classes come here to buy books. Footfall rises to over 1000 on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Stall owners collect old books from students by paying them 40 per cent of original price and resell them at a discount of 40 per cent of the cover price.
Stall owner Amiya Ranjan Muduli, who has been selling books for 10 years, said, “We take 20 per cent profit from each book. Many come to buy chemistry, biology, mathematics and English along with competitive exam books. We provide books for NEET, UGC, SSC, OAS, IAS, banking, postal and others. Class X and XII students are our biggest buyers. Over 5000 students visit my stall on Saturday and Sunday.”
The culture of buying second-hand books has gained momentum in the Capital city in the past decade. Book shops, however, continue to attract young students as well as their parents.
People interested to learn a subject often approach a bookstore for second-hand stuff basically due to its price factor.
