A volunteer organization has set up a book stall at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair which is surprisingly run without stall attendants or any sort of supervision for that matter.
The first-ever unmanned stall at the Bangla Academy premises (Stall No: 54) is an initiative by the Bidyanondo Foundation.
This innovative initiative aims to promote virtues among the public and demonstrate the honesty of all book-lovers out there.
Our correspondent, on Wednesday came across this amazing stall offering different genres of books.
There is a sign at the stall, held by two statues of children, which read: “Our meal would come from the stall’s revenue, please pay the price of the books into the box.”
Bidyanondo as a volunteer organization mainly works for underprivileged children, gained much appreciation for its “Tk1 meal project”, under which thousands of unprivileged and street children enjoy their meal in exchange of Tk1 only.
Launched in 2013, Bidyanondo currently operates in Dhaka, Chittagong, Narayanganj, Cox’s Bazar, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Rajbari.
A volunteer of Bidyanondo Foundation, Md Mohsin was found at the fair sitting far away from the stall.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune the volunteer, who is also a third-year honours’ student said: “We have installed a stall at the book fair without any salesman to prove that book-lovers never steal books. We have also been running the ‘Honesty Stall’ at schools to nurture young students’ virtues and to teach truthfulness.
“Revenue from this stall would be used to fund the ‘Tk1 meal project’,” added Mohsin.
He also said that on an average books worth Tk8,000-Tk10,000 have been sold at the fair everyday and so far there have only been two cases of missing books.
Meanwhile, visitors have been amazed by this wonderful concept and appreciated the initiative. 
Visitor are paying for their desired book by putting the money in the collection box Mahmud Hossain Opu
Syeda Kaiser, a second-year student at Eden Mohila College, who came to the fair with her mother, said: “This kind of extraordinary initiative should be appreciated by all. People who visit the stall should understand the message they are trying to get across.”
Another visitor at the book fair, Shah Jamal Uddin, a 45-year-old banker, who has been attending the fair every year for the last twenty years said: “I have seen this type of initiative at the fair for the first time. I bought a book from their stall. This initiative should be spread across the country.
How to buy books from the stall?
If you want to buy a book from Bidyanondo stall you have to check the price of your desired book and then drop the price at the box kept in the stall. After that you have to make the receipt by yourself and you can leave the stall packing the book using the bags kept at the stall.
