Ayatollah Khamenei inspects 25th TIBF event

1391/02/18-08:30

Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei paid a 2.5-hour visit to the 25th edition of Tehran International Book Fair (TIBF) Sunday morning where he browsed a range of titles on display in the fair and talked with publishers.

 

Directors of pavilions were briefing Ayatollah Khamenei on the content of titles on display in the exhibition booths as well as lately published or forthcoming titles.

 

Ayatollah Khamenei then met with a group of publishers involved in the landmark cultural event and made a speech, saying that taking massive public welcome to the book fair into account, authorities must pursue to use the opportunity to deepen and widen book-reading culture and attitude in the country.

 

According to latest figures, more than 1.2 million people inspected the book fair in the first three days of the major international event that opened to public on May 2.

 

Ayatollah Khamenei urged for a precise, phased master plan by which to enhance the book-reading culture nationwide through using the ample source of cultural capacity.

 

Ayatollah Khamenei also urged for the formation of a team of qualified experts to assess the performance and records of the book fair in the past and present in terms of the content offered to the public, adding that such an assessment would help realize whether the book fair had improved.

 

The Islamic Revolution Leader then urged relevant authorities to tackles the problems facing the publication industry. The IR Leader commissioned the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, who was accompanying him during the tour, to pursue resolution of the problem of excessive prices of paper in future cabinet sessions.

 

Ayatollah Khamenei described paper production as a steady, far-reaching national industry the effects of which would extend to future, adding that if the problems of paper making factories are removed, books would become more affordable and book-reading culture would expand further in the society.

 

Ayatollah Khamenei then raised the issue of book translation, saying that translation was not a one-way road and that the government was required to provide the grounds for translation into different languages of top Iranian publications on such themes as religion, history, literature or science.

 

Ayatollah Khamenei also called on relevant authorities to seriously deal with the issues of editing and book layout and to optimize distribution of books through establishment of chain bookstores nationwide.

 

Prior to his speech, several publishers in brief remarks reviewed the status of the national publishing industry and offered proposals for resolution of the existing problems.

 

Suggestion were made about establishment of a high council for publication affairs and establishment of large-scale chain bookstores while complaints were made about lack of clear-cut book vetting regulations, expansive paper and related effects on book price, and poor treatment of children’s publications.