INTERVIEW 3: CURRENT BOOKS, PALAKKAD

We the members of readers and quiz club conducted a survey on the topic reading habit among students.We interviewed Mr.Ramachandran,the manager of the D.C.Books,Palakkad.We conducted the survey in Malayalam.Here is the transcript in English given below:-

  

DC BOOKS INTERVIEW

Good Morning Sir

Surya: We are students of KV Kanjikode and members of Readers Club. We are conducting a survey on Reading habits of students. In this regard we would like to ask you some questions, kindly spare some of your valuable   time.

Mr. Ramachandran: Oh! Tell me

Nirupam: How long you have been in this book selling business?

Mr. Ramachandran: You mean me or DC Books?

Nirupam: DC Books, Sir

Mr. Ramachandran: DC Books in Palakkad started in around 1985.

Vishnu: Do you think book selling is still a profitable business?

Mr. Ramachandran: Actually we are all staff here. The profit and loss is taken in to consideration by DC Books Headquarters Accounts seciotn. We are selling books and running the shop here.

Nirupam: Is there an increase or decrease in selling books compared to the previous year?

Mr. Ramachandran:Ofcourse the number of books sold increased this year and every year the number is increasing.

Vishnu: Now adays everyone is saying that the book reading habit is declining among students. Can you tell us the reasons?

Mr. Ramachandran: That is just a thinking. If it was so, all these bookshops would have been closed. Reading never dies. See almost all are watching the TV news channels, but they are all reading newspapers too. Those who were reading are still reading. Though ebooks and other medias are there, that will take its own direction and book reading will have its own direction.

Vishnu: So students are still interested in books only?

Mr. Ramachandran: That we can’t say. You are coming here for the first time.

Nirupam: Do you read the books available in this store?

Mr. Ramachandran: Yes I do skip through the books. But I do not get much time.

Vishnu: In  a calendar year which type of books sell most?

Mr. Ramachandran: Almost all the book that received some awards and the books that created some issues are sold most. Old books are always in demand.  New generation books are not that much in demand. The English books generate more interest among the readers due to the coverage in magazines and all. Malayalam books do not have that kind of publicity, so mostly old books are in demand.

Nirupam: You are also publishing books. Is there a demand for your books?

Mr. Ramachandran: Why not? Without demand the bookstore will not survive.

Vishnu: Now a days, most of the published books are targeted to students. Why is it so when we are saying reading habit among students is declining – just like comics and other books?

Mr. Ramachandran:Ofcourse. It is mainly the children who needs to read and learn, not the grownups.  Novels and other books are being published for the grownups too. But it is the students who read most, isn’t it? Just like the stories and the textbooks. No one else reads that much as students do, so more books are being published for them. Actually books are being published for all equally. You feel so because you have much to study and the subjects are more so more books will be there for students.

Surya: Is there a demand for your dictionaries?

Mr. Ramachandran: Yes. Dictionaries are always in demand. We publish all kinds of dictionaries – English, Malayalam, Hindi…

Nirupam: What do you think we can do to motivate the students to read more?

Mr. Ramachandran: You should read all kinds of books, not just one author or one type of books. Read all the books you can get that’s it.

Surya: How to motivate them to read?

Mr. Ramachandran: They should get motivated by themselves. Then only it helps.

Vishnu: You organize book fairs in schools. How good is the response from students?

Mr. Ramachandran: Very good. We have conducted it your school also and you might have noticed the interest of the students to buy books. That’s why I told that reading never dies.

Thank you sir.

INTERVIEW 2: H & C STORES, PALAKKAD

We the members of readers and quiz club conducted a survey based on the topic reading habit among students.We interviewed Mr. Hari, Manager of the H&C Stores, Palakkad. We conducted our survey in Malayalam.The transcript in English given below-
 

Surya: Good Morning Sir, we are KV Kanjikode Readers Club members and we are here to do a survey on reading habit.

Mr. Hari: Ok

We introduced ourselves and started the interview.

Nirupam: Sir, how many have you been in this business?

Mr. Hari: So many years. I am in this branch for about 12 years

Vishnu: Sir do you take book selling as a profitable business?

Mr. Hari: It is not run as only a profitable business. We help in improving the reading habit. We are playing our part in it.

Nirupam: In the past years, whether the sale of books increased or decreased?

Mr. Hari: There are differences in the sale every year. We have not taken an exact statistics yet.

Vishnu: Generally it is said that the reading habit is on the decline. What is your opinion?

Mr. Hari: It is a fact that the reading habit is decreased. It is other medias like Television etc now all are interested in. When we consider that reading habit has decreased.

Nirupam: Do you read the books available in your shop?

Mr. Hari: We are not... in fact, we do not have the time to read.

Vishnu: Which books you sell most?

Mr. Hari: We mainly deal educational books here. Other books also we sell here. That also sold well.

Nirupam: You also publish books, do you think it as profitable?

Mr. Hari: It is not only about profit. As I mentioned earlier it is mainly for creating the reading habit among the people. All the books we publish are low cost books of Rs. 10 or 20 only that too stories, poems etc that children like to read.

Vishnu: Almost all the books you publish are aimed at children. Why is it so?

Mr. Hari: That right. We publish books that are required by the children.

Nirupam: We are saying that the reading habit is declining. At the same time, more and more new publishers are coming. What is the motive?

Mr. Hari: There are so many children who are interested in reading. Majority of the children are 90% interested in games and all. But still there is demand.

Vishnu: Through your store, can you do something to inculcate reading habit among the students?

Mr. Hari: We are trying to do that. If the students also cooperate with us, we can do it without much difficulty.

Nirupam and Vishnu: Thank you sir.

INTERVIEW 1: AA Books and Lending Library, Palakkad

The first interview was with Mr. Khaja Moideen, Manager, AA Books and Lending Library, Palakkad. We conducted all the surveys in Malayalam and the transcript in English is given below:

AA BOOK CENTRE AND LENDING LIBRARY

Surya: Good Morning Sir. We are from Kendriya Vidyalaya Kanjikode and we are conducting a survey on Reading Habits of Students in Palakkad. So please spend a few minutes with us.

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Sure.

Nirupam: Thank you sir. How long have you been in this business?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Me. For about 16-17 years

Vishnu: Is book selling a profitable business now?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Yes.

Nirupam: In the previous years, whether there is an increase or decrease in the sale of books?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: See. We are mainly dealing with Engineering, computer and other textbooks here.  We are also dealing general books. Mainly we supply to the college students. No problem in the sale. Its going smoothly.

Vishnu: Do you think the reading habit of the students has decreased now?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Little bit. If we compare with five years back and now, yes, there is a decrease. Now the Internet and Television have caused a decline.

Nirupam: What are the major reasons for the decline?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Now all the books are available as e-books over the Internet which has affected our sales. Then the television programmes also cause a diversion. This has not only affected the students, but of the adults too.

Vishnu: Do you allow people to read the books available here?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Not exactly. We have a lending library here. So if they join as a member they can borrow the books from us.

Vishnu: How can we become the member of the lending library?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: You need to deposit Rs. 400/- which is refundable when you cancel the member ship. You can take two books at a time for a period of 10 days. We charge a reading fee of 10% of the MRP of the books.

Nirupam: What kind of books do you sell most?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Computer books, novels, general books and children’s books all do well

Vishnu: How many members are there in your lending library?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: About 400 members are there now.

Nirupam: How many years since you started this lending library?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Seven years

Nirupam:  Can share with us some best sellers in your library?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Of course. Childrens novels like Goosebumps, Enid Blyton books, Famous five, mysteries.. then Eldest, Brisinger series and Vampire Academy etc.

Vishnu: How many books do you sell in a month?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: We cannot say that for all the months. It is seasonal

Nirupam: On an average?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: That varies. In season time around 500-1000 books will sell.

Nirupam: Among your library members, how many of them are children?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Around 500 will be there.

Vishnu: You regularly conduct book fairs in schools. What is the response from the students?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Very good. We get very good response from the children and we get good business too.  They show keen interest.

Nirupam: Then, is there an increase in the library membership in the previous years?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Memberships…we started in 2006 then we got 200 members,  in 2008 we got 300 and in 2010 it became 400. Now it is 400 an year. We expect another 100 in the next six months or an year, so it will be 500.

Surya: Is there any loss in this business?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Loss… if you run it correctly it will be profitable. But both profit and loss will be there when you run a business.

Nirupam: Are you there in the social sites… or do you have a website?

Mr. Khaja Moideen: Not yet. We are planning to have a website.

Surya: Thank you sir.

The Interviews

We have conducted interview of the managers of the following book shops. Our librarian sir had talked to the bookshops to arrange the time for interview the same day. All the interviews were conducted in Malayalam, our mother tongue, as the managers of the books shops and the librarian of Public Library were not comfortable with conversing in English.
1. AA Book Centre and Lending Library, Palakkad : They are one of the leading book shops in our district with branches in other cities too. They deal with all kinds of books suitable for all categories and focus on professional books for engineering students. They also run a successful lending library.
2. H & C Stores, Palakkad: They are the leading school books dealer in Palakkad. They also deal with school and office stationery, children’s books and general books. H & C also publishes a large number of low cost children’s books both in English and Malayalam.
3. D C Books Branch, Palakkad: Is the largest publisher in Kerala, the leading publisher of book sin Malayalam with a network of bookshops all over in Kerala.

Surya led the team. Myself and Nirupam took the roles of interviewers while Pranesh made notes of the proceedings. Vineeth, our photography expert, took the video and photos of the day.

The Teams

Project Coordinator: Shweta Sasidharan, IX A

Assistant Coordinators: Navya Vijayan, IX A and Sayooj Samuel, VIII C

Photography, Computer and IT Assistance : Nirupam Vinod, VIII, Vineethkutty, IX

TEAM A

No.	Name and Class	Role and Responsibilities
1	Shweta Sasidharan, IX B	Team Leader Interviewer Data Analysis and presentation
2	Navya Vijayan, IX B	Interviewer Data Analysis and Presentation Preparation of report
3	Vineethkutty, IX B	Photographer, IT assistance, Survey, Data Entry operations
4	Arjun S, VIII A	Survey, Data entry
5	Unnikrishnan G, VI C	Survey, Data Entry

TEAM B

No.	Name and Class	Role and Responsibilities
1	Sayooj Samuel, VIII C	Team Leader Interviewer Data Analysis and presentation
2	Abhishek P, IX A	Data Analysis and Presentation Preparation of report
3	V. Praanesh, VIII B	Record Keeping, Survey, Data Entry
4	Sreenath R, IX C	Survey, Data entry
5	Silga De Sankey, VII C	Survey, Data Entry

TEAM C

No.	Name and Class	Role and Responsibilities
1	M. Surya, VIII C	Team Leader Interviewer Data Analysis and presentation
2	Sanjay Santhosh, VIII B	Interviewer Data Analysis and Presentation Preparation of report
3	Gayathri D, IX B	Survey, Data Entry operations
4	Annie George, VI C	Survey, Data entry
5	N. Rasul Haris, VI C	Survey, Data Entry

TEAM D

No.	Name and Class	Role and Responsibilities
1	Balamurali V, VIII D	Team Leader Interviewer Data Analysis and presentation
2	AnVar Sadik N, VIII A	Survey, Data Entry, Data Analysis and Presentation Preparation of report
3	Adityan M.V, VIII A	Surveyor, Data Entry, Data analysis and preparation of report
4	Vaishak V, IX A	Survey, Data entry
5	Sreelakshmi K C, VII B	Survey, Data Entry

TEAM E

No.	Name and Class	Role and Responsibilities
1	Nirupam Vinod, VIII C	Team Leader Interviewer Data Analysis and presentation
2	Vishnu V Kumar, VIII C	Interviewer Data Analysis and Presentation Preparation of report
3	Sharan Kishore, VIII B	Survey, Data Entry, Analysis
4	Anjana C.P, X C	Survey, Data entry
5	Krishnaprasad, VIII A	Survey, Data Entry

INTERVIEW 4 : LIBRARIAN, PUBLIC LIBRARY

Public Library

Our visit to the public library was the most interesting part of our field visit and interviews. We have not expected many members in the library as from what we heard about the library we had a mental picture of a place which is not being utilized. But to our amazement, a lot number of members were there when we reached. There were a group of college students who were seriously doing some reference work. We could also see some senior citizens engrossed in reading Newspapers and magazines. The librarian was very busy, attending to a younger boy and a middle aged woman. We have not taken any prior permission or appointment with the librarian for our interview and we were accompanied by our Librarian sir. So we patiently waited there till she finished both the members.

Librarian sir introduced us to her and informed the purpose of our visit. Though sir informed us to be quick we got so engrossed in her explanation and her enthusiasm, we spend more time talking to her. Then she gave us a heartening welcome.

We introduced ourselves and started our interview.

Nirupam: Madam, how many members do you have in this library?

Ms. Latha: That I will have to check.

Nirupam: An approximate number of members will be sufficient madam.

Ms. Latha: No I can give you the exact number. Let me see, yesterday only one new member joined. So I can get the number easily. Yes. 3596 exactly.

Nirupam: How many of them are students, especially school students?

Ms. Latha: Students … 50-75 percent of them are students ranging from school students to college students.

Vishnu: How can we be member of this library?

Ms. Latha: You will have to submit the application along with a copy of your parents ID card and remit Rs. 60/- as fee for a year at 5/- rupees per month plus 50 rupees admission fee. You can take two books at a time for a period of 14 dyas, after which there will be a fine of 5 rupees per week. You can renew your membership paying the fee for a year.

Nirupam: Madam, it is generally said that the public libraries are not being utilized fully. What is your opinion?

Ms. Latha: I cannot agree with that. We have so many visitors every day here that we are unable to attend to their needs. We have so many limitations in this library, the facilities are less here. Every day we get about 200 visitors. Now here the library is really useful. Everyone is saying reading is dying, but I will never agree to that notion. Because we are getting that many users here and we do not have a second to spare. Whether it is the adults or students all are coming and using this library.

Vishnu: On an average how many books will be issued daily?

Ms. Latha: Average, 100 books per day.

Nirupam: Which books are mainly taken by the students?

Ms. Latha: Children take books written by VaikomMuhammedBasheer’s “Balaykalasakhi”, Sherlock Holmes books and the like mostly.

Vishnu: do you have a separate corner for the children?

Ms. Latha: Yes we do have a children’s section here.

Nirupam: Reading is dying is the general notion everyone is saying. What is your opinion?

Ms. Latha: I have mentioned it earlier. We will not agree with that. We are getting a good number of readers regularly here. I can’t talk about outside matters. But we believe reading is not dying.

Vishnu: If we observe, it is seen that the interest in reading is declined. What do you think the reasons for that?

Ms. Latha: May be the television and other medias are causing a diversion. But those who are reading are always interested. That we know when the new books are being published readers come over here asking for the book. They are aware about the authors and they keep a watch over the new books being published.

Nirupam: Do the adult members bring their children to the library?

Ms. Latha: Yes, they do. Parents are taking books mostly for their children to read.

Surya: How many children visit your library in a day?

Ms. Latha: About 10-15 children. Now you cannot see the school students because this is their school time. They will not come during their examination time also. They will come only in the evening or during the vacation always. They come here to refer to the books.

Surya:  What about the grownups madam? Do they come here to read newspapers or do they read novels too?

Ms. Latha: They read both. Mostly they read novels.

Vishnu: The reading contests are being held every year. What is the response?

Ms. Latha: Reading contest is organized once every year by the Kerala GranthashalaSangam. There will be a selected list books for the students to read. To read those books children come to the library. We also provide the books to the children to read and participate in the contest. Last year one tenth class student Alakananda from Kannadi, palakkad won the prize. It is for the UP and High School students.

Vishnu: How can we participate in this? Is there any fee?

Ms. Latha: No fee. When you take membership you can access all those books. For participating you need not be a member of this library or any other. To get the books you can use the library. Those poor children who cannot afford to buy all the books in the list makes most use of the library.

Nirupam: How can we motivate children to read more?

Ms. Latha: We should provide the environment for reading. Organiseprogrammes like the reading contest etc. Some KV students also come here through the MCL (Malabar Cements Limited) Library.

Vishnu: How you get books for the library? Where do you get the fund from?

Ms. Latha: We get grant from the government every year in March. So we will purchase book utilizing these grants as per the requirement received from the readers. Mostly they demand Malayalam books. But English books like Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes also in demand.

Vishnu: Would you say that this library is being utilized effectively?

Ms. Latha: Of course. Earlier this library was not like this. Now so many readers are coming to the library.

Vishnu: Normally we say reading habit is declining, but the example here shows that it is increasing.

Ms. Latha: Yes. That is our experience. We provide materials for PSC examinations which are being used here all the time. It is quite difficult for us to cater to the needs of all. We serve them without even taking the lunch break.12:30 pm to 3:00 pm it is lunch break, but we don’t take that free time as there will be lots of readers at that time here. We will let those who want to read to read.

Surya: What is the working hours of the library?

Ms. Latha: From 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. It will be almost 6:00 pm when we close.

Vishnu: When was this library started functioning?

Ms. Latha: I think in 1956 or 1957. 1988 it got affiliated to Library Council. Till 1996 it was not being used that much by the people. I joined in 1996 April. After that so many changes took place. This is being done as a social service. So we do not bother about the allowance we get.

Nirupam: Do you read book madam?

Ms. Latha: Yes. I do read.

Vishnu: Which is your favourite book here?

Ms. Latha: That will be quite difficult to say as there are so many books and many books are coming regularly. When you read so many books a selection will be difficult. Recently, I liked “Aadujeevitham(Goat Days) by Benyamin and that was issued a lot too. Then “pathummayudeaadu” by Basheer is always under circulation.

Vishnu: Okay madam. Thank you very much

Nirupam: It was really a wonderful experience madam, thank you.