mysqlimport blocks all access to database

[Joseph Blackette]

I have been trying to use mysqlimport to load a primarily read only
database with data at regular intervals. My problem occurs when my
tables are myisam. In this case all access to the database and the
tables blocks until mysqlimport completes. The -lock-tables=false
parameter does not help.  Is this the normal operation? If not how can I
still have concurrent read access to the database while mysqlimport is
running?