60,000 to 70,000 old books and papers; one newspaper sold for Tk 60,000, yet money is tight

A 38-year-old man from Raninagar, Naogaon, has lived in Paschim Harua, Kishoreganj for 12 years running a small paper-trading business. In early 2015 he noticed that in the haor region old newspapers and magazines from 40 to 50 years ago were being cut up to make bidi. He decided not to let these witnesses of history be destroyed and began collecting. According to Prothom Alo, he first brings old books from across the country to a warehouse, then picks out the valuable ones and keeps them in a medium-sized shop room known as the old bookshop. His Facebook page is Old Collection. His collection now holds 60,000 to 70,000 old books and papers. When he has two or more of an item he keeps one and sells the rest. He sold a copy of Dainik Bangladesh dated 17 December 1971 to an expatriate writer for Tk 60,000 and a 1970 detective novel to an Australia-based buyer for Tk 40,000. But the shop is beside a road, so dust is a problem, there is no glass on the shelves, and preservation is poor. A regular visitor says he is in financial difficulty.