Use of fictitious ISBN by Bangladeshi publishers

Most publishers of Bangladesh are unaware of the use of International Standard Book Number in their books.

ISBN is obtained against a fee. The ISBN Agency in Bangladesh is the Directorate of Archives & Libraries, National Library of Bangladesh in Agargaon. I found several locally published books containing ISBN that were not issued to them. So far I have found only one book published by University Press Limited (UPL) having a valid ISBN, but even then the author's name had a spelling error.

It is not mandatory to use ISBN to publish a book, but using fake/fictitious ISBN damages the country's image. The concerned authorities should create awareness regarding the legal binding of using ISBN amongst publishers in particular, and citizens in general.

A.H.M. Shahidul Islam, Dhaka