– —-consumers’ interest and affordability, the cost question…
THE general consensus, by those who benefited back in the day, is that there were several bookstores and affordable access to books, which added to the high level of literacy that Guyana boasted in past years.
Since then, things have changed.
In an invited comment, proprietor of one of Guyana’s more popular bookstores, Austin’s Bookstore, Lloyd Austin said to encourage literacy the bookstores themselves need to be supported.
“Right now, our biggest challenge remains piracy…if we should close our doors, there will not be many others who would want to start a bookstore because of the illegal operators who are out to make a quick buck,” he said.
Austin noted that when it comes to books that are imported, the store has significantly scaled down its operations as compared to previous years.
Among these are books published by Oxford, Heinemann, Nelson-Thorne and Longman, in addition to books from two regional publishers: Royards and Caribbean Education Publishers.
He added too that because of the situation, local writers are not encouraged because of the underlying violations of copyright legislation and intellectual property.
The proprietor added that there should be legislative backing to address the loopholes that facilitate illegal operators.
“These people’s aim is not to provide service to the people, but to make a quick buck,” Austin said.
Additionally, Guyana’s Director of Culture, Professor James Rose, was recently quoted as saying that, “The creative mind will always create, the problem is how do you protect your creation. That is the issue we face and that sends a message as to the urgency of having copyright legislation.”
He said the decades-old absence of modern copyright legislation has been hurting the creative industry, a phenomenon he said that could be halted with the speedy enactment of the required laws.
At present, the 1956 British Copyright Act that Guyana inherited from Britain at the time of Independence in 1966 is in effect and stakeholders are calling for it to be revised.
Universal Book Store is one unfortunate institution which has had to close its doors under pressure from stores that sell photocopied books at lower prices.
However, while there is a call for stricter laws, the concern at the grassroots level is whether or not some families will be able to afford the books.
How does a household with five children, or even two, with an income of $20,000, afford a text book, much less a novel, that costs on average minimum $2,000 – and still these prices are dependent on a range of things, relevance and publisher, among other factors.
According to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), books for educational purposes, if imported, do not attract duty.
A GRA advisory notes that printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter for educational purposes do not attract customs duties.
With several variables to consider, at the end of the day, addressing the encouragement of literacy and consumers’ interest, more particularly affordability, comes back to the question of cost.