CHENNAI: In what could be termed the renaissance for Tamil Nadu Textbooks and Educational Services Corporation, the attempt to reprint its old books received thumbs up from book lovers as it has received more than 2,000 orders at the recently concluded Chennai Book Fair.
Of 1,100 titles published by the corporation in 32 different fields, it had displayed 190 titles at the book fair.
“We have received an overwhelming response as the price of the books is very low. The books will be sent to the readers very soon,” said D. Jagannathan, managing director, Tamil Nadu Text Books and Educational Services Corporation.
In a trial run, a committee has selected 190 titles out of 800 which were considered suitable for reprint.
“We have reprinted 100 copies for each title. After seeing the response we would like to reprint as many as 500 titles in next few months,” he said.
Among the several titles, the history books were received well.
“Many eminent scholars have written the history books published by the textbook corporation. World history, Tamil history and political history are among the books that are in demand,” said Sankara Saravanan, deputy director, Tamil Nadu Text Books and Educational Services Corporation.
Apart from students, research scholars and IAS, IPS aspirants also ordered many books. Some even ordered the entire collection of 192 books.
From its inception, the textbook corporation had published books on various topics including oceanography and adolescent psychology. But in the middle years, it restricted itself to publishing the textbooks alone.
It didn’t even have the copies of 1,100 titles it had published. After months of the hunt, officials secured the original copies of the books from various libraries in the state.
Recently, Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation and Educational Services Corporation has strengthened its publication wing.
At present, the focus is on reprinting its old books and translating English books in the subjects like Engineering, Medicine, Law and Agriculture.
“We will slowly turn our focus on printing the nationalised books and translating famous literary works in other languages besides bringing out quality books on various topics,” Mr.Jagannathan said.
