Trivandrum’s second-hand book vendors make books affordable

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: They may be torn, worn out and old, but second-hand books are still the first choice for students and bibliophiles looking for used textbooks or classics, fiction and non-fiction, and much more at affordable rates.  While it has been nearly 25 years since the culture of second-hand book stalls took shape in Thiruvananthapuram, it still has some catching up to do with its counterparts in other cities, like Kolkata’s historic College Book Market, the Moore Market in Chennai or that of the Avenue Road in Bengaluru. One of the main reasons is the periodic relocation of these books stalls around Palayam. 

Even though it has been a decade now since these 30-odd bookstalls have been selling second-hand books next to the Public Library in Palayam, there have been multiple relocations from near Finance College, the MLA hostel, and on Jubilee Road behind Saphalyam Complex. “It is summer break now and I feel this is the best time for kids to be reading books,” says Suresh N, a regular customer. “I come here with my daughter who just passed out of Class VII to get Malayalam and English fiction.” 

Usually, May and June are considered the peak seasons for the sale of second-hand books. Textbooks for the new academic year for Classes VI to Plus Two, guides and texts for various competitive exams like engineering and medical and other competitive exams like SSC, bank and PSC are the pick of the season.
Shaji S, who owns stall number eight, feels this is the best season for the sale of second-hand books. During this time people mostly come here to buy books to prepare for engineering and medical entrance examinations and also for SSC and bank exams which are held in June.

These bookstalls source their books from different places; mainly from Delhi, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. At times they even manage to get it from bookstores that want to get rid of old stock.“Most of the books, especially medical and engineering texts, are very expensive. So, students buy their books from us at about 50 per cent off the MRP and later they return the books and get about 40 per cent back,” says Faizal, a bookstall owner. 

“I just bought books for J 8,000 for a relative, says Shafique Abdul Rashid, advocate and former legal correspondent of Mangalam. “They had travelled about 50 km just to buy books from here. These are some guides and texts books for a medical entrance exam. If we had bought it from books stores, it would have cost around J 20,000.”