Libraries Are Even Further Away Than Pizzerias!

According to the Fikr va Farhang-e Moballeq website, ‘Wherever a school is built, a prison is closed’; this is a saying by the French writer Victor Hugo, and cultural analysts today, inspired by him, say, ‘If we don’t build libraries, we will have to build prisons.’ However, Azadeh Nazarboland, Secretary-General of the Public Libraries Institution of the country, told Fars that despite its status as the capital, Tehran is ‘poor’ in terms of public libraries, both in terms of per capita space and resources and facilities.

According to statistics from the Public Libraries Institution, there are about 3,800 active libraries in Iran, and among these, the entire Tehran province has only 336 libraries (179 institutional and 157 participatory); unofficial reports also state that some areas of the capital do not even have a single public library.

However, in this very city where libraries are scarce, there are more than 6,500 active cafes, and there are over 20,000 cafes across Iran.

Currently, Tehran, Razavi Khorasan, and Isfahan provinces have the highest number of public libraries in Iran. Nevertheless, on average, there are only 1.2 public libraries per 100,000 people in Iran, while the global standard is 3 libraries per 100,000 people.

According to statistics from the Planning Office of the National Libraries Institution, by the end of Khordad 1403 (June 2024), the infrastructure of public libraries covered by the institution was 1,407,752 square meters. This means that, with a population of about 86 million people in the country, the library area per Iranian is approximately 0.016 square meters (about 16 square centimeters). That is, something the size of a sticky note. Also, many existing libraries in Iran cannot acquire new and diverse books due to a lack of financial resources.

In this regard, the per capita non-academic study rate in the country is daily between 2 and 12 minutes, which is less than the time spent scrolling an Instagram post. Some statistics also report that about 60% of Iranians did not read even one book last year.

Yousef Khajir, a professor at Soureh University, believes that Iranians read less because reading is not considered a cultural value in our society, and ‘there is no felt need for reading, books are expensive, and many prefer to spend their time on other things.’ This issue is more about cultural habit and laziness in reading than a lack of facilities. But Siamak Mahboub, head of the Libraries Development Deputy, says that ‘80% of Iranians do not have access to public libraries at all.’

When a library is not accessible, even if there is motivation, use is not possible. ‘Even if we assume laziness, a library within a radius of one to two kilometers would attract even these so-called lazy people to read. So, the issue is not laziness; it’s infrastructure.’

Amin Motavallian, a cultural expert, sees the solution in increasing accessibility and attractiveness of libraries and says, ‘A library is a social service; like any other commodity, if it’s out of reach, people won’t go for it.’ The main issue is neither laziness nor disinterest, but rather the lack of effective access to libraries. If this problem is solved, many equations of reading will change. A library should have ‘active members and visitors’ like a shop or a bank; that is, people should feel that visiting a library is part of their daily life.