High Turnout at Bargain Book Fair

BY AMIRA SHERIF

This year’s Spring Book Fair offered the community a treat – all the books left over by the Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) were on sale at bargain prices.

“We had lots of books in our store that we needed to get rid of due to our sales decrease in the past two years,” said Joseph Mitri, the university bookstore’s assistant manager.

He added that after the store moved from Gate 1 to Gate 4, there were a lot of books that had to be sold in order to buy new inventory.

“People are thrilled by how cheap the books are; the turnout is high,” Mitri said.

The book fair is scheduled every year after the CIBF ends.

The university’s storerooms, where stocks were left after the store’s relocation, supply the fair’s books.

Shahdan Naguib, the marketing assistant at AUC Press, said, “We start off by setting the date and location of the book fair, then we book promotional spaces for hanging posters.”

Naguib added that Trevor Naylor, associate director of AUC Press and Bookstores, then takes decisions regarding the selection of the books that will be sold during the fair.

“People love it, they found the prices very reasonable and had the chance to buy lots of books with prices they won’t find in the flee book market,” said Mitri.

“I was very [surprised] by the amount of books that were available with a low price; I reached a point where I did not know how to carry the books or where to put them,” said Malak Hesballah, a business student.

A high number of modern literature, classic literature and children books were offered, which sold best in this year’s fair.

The AUC Press has been on campus for over 20 years, selling Arabic literature, translating all of Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz’s books and working mostly on travel guides.

“We have the most powerful Ancient Egyptian collection worldwide at the AUC Press; especially Islamic art,” said Dimitri.

“A lot of people went to the fair in the first couple of days, hoping to find exclusive books and to catch the latest collections,” Seif Sarhan, an accounting student said, adding that he was impressed by the variety and prices of the books.

Another book fair is to be held in April just before Spring Break.