DUBAI, 14 December 2006 — It was the best of times and worst of times ... for the 25th Sharjah World Book Fair in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) running through tomorrow.

The minimal amount of censorship, a wide variety of books, bargain prices, well organized stalls and ample space for comfortable browsing made the fair this year the best so far. On the other hand, low turnout, heavy traffic, bad weather and dwindling readership in the Arab world hampered the fair.

“This year’s fair has many new titles and huge discounts on books,” said Yousuf Aydabi, the event’s general director, adding that about 655 publishers from 38 countries are present at the expo.

“There are around 21,000 English and Arabic titles, including specialized sections for children,” he added.

Aydabi said that also this year and under the instruction of Sheikh Sultan ibn Mohammed Al-Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah, around 100 Lebanese publishers have been exempted from participation fees in recognition of the troubles the people of Lebanon encountered as a result of the Israeli aggression this past summer.

Despite the ample opportunities to stock up on reading materials, booksellers were complaining of the low number of visitors.

“From the experience of previous years, by this time we would have sold more than 70 percent of our stock,” said Saif Al-Dawla of the Lebanese publishing house Oriental Library.

A representative of an Egypian publishing house, who did not want to be named, agreed. “This year has been disappointing,” he said. “Our sales have plummeted by more than 40 percent compared to last year. We have been coming to the fair for the past 20 years and never have we seen such a sharp decrease in visitors. Even some of our loyal customers from Abu Dhabi are refusing to come. They said that they couldn’t tolerate being stuck for hours in the Dubai-Sharjah traffic jams.”

Maha Shihab, a book buyer at the fair, said it took her two-and-a-half hours to get to the fair in spite of being relatively close. “I had to leave work early so that I could make it here before closing time,” she said. “I usually come to the book fair more than three or four times every year, but I don’t have the energy to come again. The traffic is simply too horrible for me to brave another trip.”

Bookworm Khalid Basiuni laid the blame squarely on the traffic saying: “It took me one hour to get here and I live only 15 minutes away from the fair in normal traffic. None of my friends were interested in coming.”

Another publisher laid the blame on rising living costs in the Emirates for the dwindling sales. “Apparently many families have left the UAE to go back to their home countries because of the rising cost of living here,” said Nader Yasin from Al-Khayal Publishing House. “And many others cannot afford the luxury of buying books.”

Another book buyer, Asma Muhammed, said she thought the problem of low attendance had more to do with people’s dwindling interest in reading. “I am the only one who reads Arabic books amongst my friends,” she said. “Nobody else reads!”