ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER 14 December 2013 10 Safar 1435 - Volume 18 Number 5913 Price: QR2 ON SATURDAY Mideast deal likely by April TEL AVIV: Shrugging off gloomy predictions of fail- ure, US Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday that Israelis and Palestinians remained committed to peace talks and were on course to wrap up a full deal by April. Book Fair: Speaking at the end of his sec- ond visit to the region in a week, Kerry said both sides were dis- cussing a framework for a final- status accord to resolve the core issues in the decades-old conflict. Full report on page 8 A tame affair US sanctions move angers Iran VIENNA/MOSCOW: A breakthrough agreement to THE ISSUE end the stand-off over Iran’s nuclear programme appeared As in the previous severe lack of parking space editor-in-chief of Al Sharq, Abdul Aziz dedicated to subjects, looking for books to face its first major difficulty years, the latest amidst construction work Al Mahmoud, was more eloquent in his at the venue can be time-consuming and yesterday with Russia warning going on near its venue kept criticism of the event and said the fair tiring. that expanding a US sanctions edition of the much- A visitor turnout at the fair low has just become an annual ritual. “Usually, every fair of this kind has blacklist could seriously com- talked-about book fair, this year. “It’s more of an annual tradition now sections dedicated to books subject-wise. plicate its implementation. being held at the Doha Then, the books generally being high- than anything else. There are the same If I am looking for history books, I should Russia, which, along with the priced didn’t help the fair become a suc- publishers and almost the same books. go to that section, for example. But there US, is among the six world pow- International Exhibition cess. “Overall, it was a flop show. There The fair is repetitive,” he said in remarks was no such thing at this fair,” said the ers that negotiated the November Centre, has been a was nothing new about it. It was like to this newspaper. visitor. 24 interim accord with Iran, ech- every year,” said a critic, requesting According to another visitor who About book prices, some enthusiasts oed Iranian criticism that it vio- tame affair, and it ends anonymity. didn’t want his name in print, the event said they were on the higher side. lated the spirit of the deal and today. Celebrated Qatari author and former is chaotic as in the absence of sections Continued on page 2 could “block things”. See also page 8 DECEMBER 14, 2013 ON SATURDAY 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com Home Pics: Kammutty VP Demand for books declining Publishers want government support in the form of bulk purchases and coupons for students BY RAYNALD C RIVERA appreciation for the organisers who he “In terms of sales, I consider this year it is being held from December 4 to 14. said had provided the necessary support better than last year. In the previous The fair has witnessed a decline in the DOHA: As the 24th Doha International to them, but said sales were low. years, government entities purchased number of publishers, from 456 in 2011 to Book Fair comes to a close today, book- This year, Dar Al Maktabi has brought books, they also gave coupons to students 419 last year to 360 this year. It has also sellers observed the fair had lost its books on philosophy, biography, history to come and purchase at the fair. These been criticised for the fact that the major- sheen, blaming the decline in sales and children’s books to the fair. further boosted our sales,” said Shawqi. ity of books are in Arabic, with only a few on lack of publicity and government “Sales are poor. The problem is the Shawqi has travelled to different parts available in English. Booksellers, however, support. shortage of parking space and the road of the world and found arrangements for argued that books in Arabic were more in People’s lack of interest in books, diversions,” he said, adding there was need the Doha book fair to be good. demand in the region. brought about by the fast-evolving tech- for an intensive media campaign. A representative from Dar Al Thaqafa The 11-day fair has drawn praise for its nological landscape with the Internet and The huge space adjacent to the Doha also urged additional official support in side events, many of which were linked advanced smartphones and gaming gadg- Exhibition Centre was once utilised as the form of the government purchasing to the UK, the guest of honour this year ets coming to the market, is another factor parking space for visitors during big books from them, and said sales were bet- to coincide with the Qatar UK Year of contributing to the decline. events, but currently it is barricaded due ter compared to last year. Culture. The Qatar UK pavilion offered “The demand for books is decreasing to ongoing construction. This has resulted The book fair was moved to an ear- various cultural and educational activities year by year because people are not any- in limited parking space for visitors’ cars lier part of the month this year as in for children. They included storytelling more interested in them,” Ziyada, owner and school buses. the past two years it had coincided with and related activities, film screenings, a of Dar Al Asma, told The Peninsula. Road diversions, caused by works on the the National Day, resulting in low visitor literary translation summit, an art expo, His stall, in which titles mostly on metro project, are also making the road turnouts. In 2011 and 2012, the fair was and book talks. Arabic language and education are avail- challenging and confusing for motorists held from December 12 to 22, but this year THE PENINSULA able, has sold only 50 books on average to negotiate. in a day. Khalid Suleiman of Dar Al Iqra from “The previous years were definitely bet- Kuwait, who has been participating in the ter,” he said, adding that the government fair for several years now, also complained Call for more non-Arabic books must support booksellers the way it did of the parking problem and road diver- several years ago. sions, but said he would come again next Continued from page 1 to international schools are developing By government support booksellers year as he found the management of the According to Al Mahmoud, though, the habit of book reading”. mean ministries and other government fair very cooperative. the prices being high or low, is not the These schools make you read three organisations purchasing books in large Another bookseller, from Qatar-based issue. “The issue is there must be a books on average a week and you must quantities, and providing schoolchildren Maktaba Lubnan,, was of the view that printed and approved price list, but it make their summary as part of curricu- coupons that they can use to buy books. there should be more initiatives through wasn’t there. lum, he said. “Our schools don’t encour- Because of a lack of interest from the advertisements in traditional media in “So people didn’t age book reading.” general public, booksellers now rely on addition to social media campaigns to know whether to buy Another critic schools and students to a large extent. revive the fair. the books at the fair or said that he found it “The government should revive the cou- “More media campaigning is needed to from the market where surprising that the pon system providing students free cou- attract more customers because people it could be cheaper.” book fair caters only pons; this would encourage them to buy nowadays are not reading books anymore The other problem to Arabic-speaking and read books,” said Abdullah Al Owais because they prefer the Internet more,” was that nobody knew population and leaves of Kuwait-based Al Ibdah Al Fikri. he said, adding the timing should also be about this year’s new out the others who A recent study on children in the GCC, revised to make it more convenient for titles and whether are quite sizeable in which was conducted by global research customers to visit the fair. there were some best number. organisation TNS and commissioned by The Maktaba Lubnan stand provides sellers or not, he said. “Only 30 percent private company Fun Ville, revealed read- a variety of books, such as encyclopedias, Yet another critic Abdul Aziz Al Mahmoud of our population is ing was the activity on which children up dictionaries, children’s books, medical said the fair was bar- Arabic-speaking,” to 12 years spent their free time the least. books and books on cooking, language and ren and people were left on their own. said Al Mahmoud. “Why are Indians, Al Owais has been taking part in the well-known Islamic figures. “There was no one to guide us.” Filipinos, Pakistanis and others left fair for three years now, and although he “At average, sales are between QR2,000 A Qatari woman, talking of the event out?” had average sales this year, he said demand to QR3,000 per day, but in the previous on a local social networking site, said He said the Ministry of Arts, Culture was low compared to last year. years they reached up to QR15,000 a day,” she visited the fair in the past but this and Heritage does not provide an assess- “The problem of a dearth of parking he said.