Itinerant Booksellers: Necessary Evils to the Book Trade in Ghana?

摘要

Itinerant booksellers play very significant but less noticeable role in the book trade in Ghana and many developing economies. They are the mobile booksellers who carry their collections to the doorsteps of their consumers. This paper highlights the contributions of itinerant booksellers to book distribution in Ghana. The paper makes a case for and against itinerant bookselling in Ghana. First, the paper raises issues with the quality and content of some of the reading materials peddled by the itinerant booksellers and discusses their implications for copyright and book development. The paper then argues that in spite of their shortcomings, itinerant booksellers have the potential to assist in finding a lasting solution to the book distribution problems of the country, and, need to be encouraged and assisted by book industry players such as the Ghana Development Council, Ghana Book Publishers Association, and the Ghana Booksellers Association to contribute meaningfully to Ghana's book business.