Mashhad Book Complex, a three-storey bookshop was inaugurated in the shrine city of Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan Razavi Province, on August 12.
Celebrated Persian writer, literary critic and translator Mohammad Jafar Yahaqi, Persian poet, translator and editor Abdollah Kosari, cultural deputy of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Abbas Salehi and several literati attended the opening ceremony of the 1,000 sqm bookstore.
The complex is affiliated to Imam Publications that already has a bookstore at Mashhad’s Doctora Intersection, which opened 30 years ago. The Imam Bookstore over the years grew in fame and came to be known as one of the most credible bookshops in the city.
As the bookshop became too small for its expanding services, the owner of the publications Reza Rajabzadeh, a cultural enthusiast, decided to open the second branch at his residential premises on Ibn-Sina Avenue. It took him 10 years to convert the land deeds for commercial purposes.
The three-storey bookshop took another two years to build. “No private or government body supported us in the establishment of this book complex. Rather, the Mashhad Municipality charged us for the property’s conversion up to last dime. Perhaps it is time to introduce a law to support the establishment of such cultural centers,” his son Ali Rajabzadeh, told Mehr News Agency.
There are 20,000 titles available at the new complex. The upper floor is dedicated to books for children and young adults, educational toys and stationary. Books for adults and on music and artistic products, humanities and general topics, are available on the other two floors.
