Publishers express grave concern over Iranians' reluctance to read books
14:51 - 28 December 2011
Kurdpa - A number of Iranian publishers have expressed grave concern about the increasing initial reluctance to read books shown by ordinary people.
About 100 bookstores have closed over the past year due to lack of enthusiasm for reading books, Salis Publications Director Mohammad-Ali Jafarieh said a meeting this week.
\"The reality is that bookselling is not economically viable any longer,\" he added.
He said that the Tehran Municipality should intervene to resolve the problem.
Due to people\'s reluctance to read books, the municipality does not feel certain that any improvement in the environment would help the bookshops resolve the problem.
Analysts believe that Iranian people\'s aversion to book reading points to factors far beyond a lack of an appropriate environment for booksellers.
They said that the high cost of living in Iran is the major reason for the unwillingness to purchase and read books in Iran.
The Iranian middle class, which includes a large part of the book readers\' population, has to work day and night to make a living. As a result, they have neither money for books nor time for reading.
Iran National Library and Archives former director Ali-Akbar Ash\'ari announced in 2008 that Iran\'s per capita book reading rate is two minutes every 24 hours.
Many Iranian officials censured Ash\'ari for his remarks after which they began to cite higher numbers for Iran\'s per capita book reading rate.
No source was mentioned for the figure by Masur Vaezi, who is also the secretary of the Public Culture Council.
Source - Payvand News
About 100 bookstores have closed over the past year due to lack of enthusiasm for reading books, Salis Publications Director Mohammad-Ali Jafarieh said a meeting this week.
\"The reality is that bookselling is not economically viable any longer,\" he added.
He said that the Tehran Municipality should intervene to resolve the problem.
Due to people\'s reluctance to read books, the municipality does not feel certain that any improvement in the environment would help the bookshops resolve the problem.
Analysts believe that Iranian people\'s aversion to book reading points to factors far beyond a lack of an appropriate environment for booksellers.
They said that the high cost of living in Iran is the major reason for the unwillingness to purchase and read books in Iran.
The Iranian middle class, which includes a large part of the book readers\' population, has to work day and night to make a living. As a result, they have neither money for books nor time for reading.
Iran National Library and Archives former director Ali-Akbar Ash\'ari announced in 2008 that Iran\'s per capita book reading rate is two minutes every 24 hours.
Many Iranian officials censured Ash\'ari for his remarks after which they began to cite higher numbers for Iran\'s per capita book reading rate.
No source was mentioned for the figure by Masur Vaezi, who is also the secretary of the Public Culture Council.
Source - Payvand News
