Iran Gov’t Allocates Book Subsidies

To promote reading and support publishers, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has allocated 164 billion rials ($4.37 million) in subsidies for the 30th Tehran International Book Fair, the spokesperson of the fair said. "University and theological students will be offered 1 million rials ($26.6) in vouchers, students 500,000 rials ($13.3) and university professors 2.5 million rials ($66.6)," Homayoun Amirzadeh added. "Book vouchers are not limited to buying books from specific publishers and their holders are free to buy books from all publishers attending the fair," IRNA quoted Amirzadeh as saying. The 30th Tehran International Book Fair, slated for May 3-13 at Shahr-e Aftab in southern Tehran, is expected to be attended by 2,500 domestic and 600 foreign publishers, Iran Cultural Fairs Institute reported.