Date:16/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/16/stories/2006081617780200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Book banks struggling to survive

Sandhya Soman

Medium and small operators unable to manage with low subscription rates

CHENNAI: Small is not beautiful when it comes to book banks in the city. Medium and small operators are slowly shutting shop, unable to survive with subscription rates not matching the soaring prices of textbooks loaned out to students, say industry insiders.

Three have already closed down in the current academic year, says MV Book Bank founder-director V. Saairam. "New students came to us from Velachery, Valasarawakkam and Anna Nagar after book banks in these areas closed down," he says. According to Mr. Saairam, quite a bit of investment goes into making a book bank work, especially with the increase in demand for engineering textbooks that do not come cheap.

Even non-profit book banks run by the Rajasthan Youth Association and other organisations have seen a rise in their yearly purchase of books. "Every year we purchase books worth Rs. 7 to 10 lakh, particularly after the recent revision of the engineering syllabus and introduction of new courses by colleges," says RYA chairman Rajesh Kumar Jain. Banks have to maintain the books. "Most of them run for two to three years. Either the syllabus changes or books get damaged," says Mr. Rajesh.

With organisations like these depending on a partly refundable caution deposit of Rs. 150, members see them through the rise in textbook prices. "We started with 25 students in 1965. Now there are 2,100 new students in the current year and 4,500 from previous years. However, money is not the issue. We are trying to meet the demand by making our operations online. Soon students will be able to download applications," says Mr. Rajesh. Sri Sumati Vishal Jain Book Bank, another non-profit organisation, has computerised its operations with bar coding of books to facilitate easy storage and retrieval. It is planning to digitise textbooks to reach more students.

Private operators such as MV, meanwhile, opened six more branches two months ago — Anna Nagar, Perambur, Porur, Tambaram, Vellore and Tirunelveli, apart from the head office in Saidapet. They are also going online with transactions, registration and other operations including catalogue browsing.

A bouquet of subscription rates is also in the offing from this year with students getting to choose books as well as having the option of exchanging them, added Mr. Saairam. For further details, contact Rajasthan Youth Association (25610369, 25610978), Sri Sumati Vishal Jain Book Bank (24360675) and MV Book Bank (42118797).