| College Street | |
| Other Name: | Boi Para (Books Neighborhood) |
| Postal Code: | 700012, 700073 |
| Length Km: | 0.9 |
| Location: | Kolkata, India |
| Metro System: | Kolkata Metro |
| Metro: | MG Road, Central and Sealdah |
| Maint: | Kolkata Municipal Corporation |
| Coordinates: | 22.5755°N 88.3634°W |
| Direction A: | North |
| Terminus A: | Bidhan Sarani |
| Direction B: | South |
| Terminus B: | Bowbazar |
College Street (Bengali: কলেজ স্ট্রিট) is a 900 metre long street in Central Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. Also known as Boi Para (Bengali: বইপাড়া; Book Town), it stretches from Bidhan Sarani road up to Bowbazar (before Nirmal Chandra Street) via MG Road crossing and Surya Sen Street crossing.[1] Its name derives from the presence of numerous colleges and universities like University of Calcutta, Calcutta Medical College, Presidency University, The Sanskrit College and University, City College of Commerce and Business Administration etc. The road houses many centres of intellectual activity especially the Indian Coffee House, a café that has attracted the city's intelligentsia for decades.[2] College Street is the largest book market in India as well as Asia[3] and the largest secondhand book market in the whole world.[4]
The College Street is famous for its small and big book stores, which gives it the nickname Boi Para (Colony of Books).[5] People from the whole city and different parts of the state flock the innumerable book stores along the side-walk for books. Many bigwigs of the Bengali publication industry (like: Ananda Publishers, Mitra and Ghosh Publishers, DasGupta and Company Pvt. Ltd, Dey's Publishing, Rupa & Co. etc.) are situated here. The street is also dotted with countless small book kiosks which sell new and old books.[5] 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.[6] One can buy rare books at throw-away prices and extensive bargaining takes place.
In 2007, College Street featured among the famous landmarks of India which have made it to 6pm to 9pm Magazine's "Best of Asia" list.[7]
Well-known academic institutions situated on this street include: