The Dhaka Day by Day feature (Sept 28) on local sales oi foreign papers and magazine: in the city is timely. Such regular readers are well aware oi the relevant background provided.

As a middle-class readei with single limited income (nc side, black, grey, additional, income. commissions, or bakshish) I can hardly afford to buy current issues of foreign periodicals. Sometimes I buy back-dated copies from the Nilkhet second-hand market. Decades ago. when the prices were much lower and the purchasing power higher. I used to subscribe at one time or another to Life. Time. Saturday Evening Post. National Geographic. RD. AWSJ. FEER. Economist. Probashi AB Pa-trika and The Weekly Statesman (while abroad).

There are several problems in the developing countries: a) high cover price of the foreign papers/journals: b) overcharging by the local agents (local price not related tot he official foreign exchange rate), although printed materials are not taxed as per Unesco convention (the Indian publications are the main offenders).

Now that the Unesco have opened an office in Bangladesh, can it do something to make available some reputable papers and journals in the LDCs at subsidised subscription rates to individuals and libraries (not for free sale in the open Market), Of course Unesco book coupons are available for buying books from abroad. We want printed materials at the prices we pay for our ready-made gar ments!

One welcome trend is the satellite-e-mail-computer local printing of the PC Magazine USA. sold at the counter al Taka 100 only (Black price Tk

Can be the Press Club Read Ing Room do a public service by allowing interested members of the public to browse through the Bpers and magazines, in reti irn a small entry ticket of. say. Taka five, the proceeds going to the PC welfare fund? There are few public libraries in the mohallas (localities), and these are poorly equipped. Others are not easily accessible. The British Council have increased the annual subscription for non-students to prohibitive level (and the rickshaw fare). The Unesco Reading Room

wou ld be an Ideal place, provided Uncle Sam would release the $1.6 billion. Unesco, what about the Third World's "Right to Head" slogan?

Another state nuisance is pilferage of magazines coming in- by mail through our foreign post. 1 am a seasoned victim, arid have stopped foreign sub-sc riptions. Sometimes the postman delivered the Book of the Month Club packages from the USA against a signed receipt.

Now. alas. I have no more N RB foreign exchange, but have m anaged to build up a interest-ing private library. I strictly maintain an Issue Register for close friends and broad defaulters. Poor demand. I regret to re-port. Money rolls, but books pile up. Few are fortified enough t o face the cold rows of books. The unpopularity can be explained: you can't argue with I x»ks. as at a Bengalee adda

Now for some bright news. Non-textbook book shops for the general readers (bibliophiles and those who have small personal libraries —• to read, not to display) are now opening up in Dhaka. The Indian books are cheaper, including the foreign titles (and best-sellers) printed in India. Another new trend is that the book buyers are allowed inside the new-trend bookshops and approach the shelves for browsing before purchase, in contrast to the traditional "student" bookshops where the customer has to face two formidable barriers: the wooden counter, and — the wooden salesman.

"Which book you want please?"

"I don't know. I'd like to have a look at your "latest arrivals" and then decide."

The books on computers are mostly for the students and newcomers: nothing for the hobbyists with more depth and breadth, beyond the textbook flavour. Tutorials should not last a lifetime — when do you enjoy the pleasure of reading!

I guess It Is boring to continue this academic grumbling If our MPs cultivate the small pleasures of life, then we bookworms could perhaps snuggle up beside them (in good faith) for a chitchat. Our PM is reported to have two book manuscripts ready That is the biggest non political image of the formidable Sheikh Hasina! Let us hear of more such balancing acts by the other leaders.