the college street is most famous for its small and big bookstores, which gives it the nickname "boi para" (colony of books). people from whole city and different parts of the state gathers here for their books. many bigwigs of the bengali publication industry (like: ananda publishers, dasgupta and company pvt. ltd, dey's publishing, rupa & co., asha book agency,etc.) are situated here. the street is also dotted with countless very small book kiosks which sell new and old books. an article in the journal "smithsonian" described college street as "...a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement, carrying first editions, pamphlets, paperbacks in every indian language, with more than a fair smattering of books in and out of print from france, germany, russia and england."