The 6th Alborz Province Book Fair in Karaj has on display 20,000 titles exhibited at over 140 stalls.
Sixty stalls are showcasing stationery, digital media and software, IRNA reported.
Seyyed Abbas Salehi, deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance, who attended the opening ceremony, said: “Domestic book industry saw fewer book publications last year.”
Book publications reached 1 million titles since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Last year, 73,000 titles, including 16,000 in human science, 14,500 in mathematical and applied science, 12,000 in religion, 11,000 in children’s literature and 10,000 in adult literature were published, he noted.
Iran is on the right track in production of knowledge-based publications; however, the average reading rate is very low, Salehi said.
“There are always many pretexts to avoid reading, such as the lack of time. But it should be noted that by reading several minutes a day, one would have read a lot of books over the years.” Reading habit can be promoted through time management so as to enhance people’s general knowledge and cultural level.
Provincial book fairs have been organized in Iran as a major cultural event with the first such exhibition in 1993. They seek to promote and expand the culture of book reading nationwide as a major step to upgrade the level of knowledge among different social strata, especially in remote areas. The fairs also help the people to have close access to titles largely published and distributed in bigger cities.
The event will run through September 18, at the Culture and Islamic Guidance Organization fairgrounds in Motahari Ave., Karaj, Alborz Province.
