Are we supporters of books?

The cultural and publishing service of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA) asks: 20, 15, 13, or 2 minutes; which is the reality of the per capita book reading rate in Iran? Is the discussion about the state of reading important to Iranians themselves? Of course, if it’s not important, why should validating the minutes matter?!

Some insist that discussing the per capita reading rate is a form of self-abasement, or they equate the total cover price of books published in a year with the reality and status of books in Iranian society. Should this be accepted blindly? We know that several centers, including the Statistical Center of Iran or the Public Libraries Institution of the country, announce reading rates.

The Secretary-General of the Public Libraries Institution, in a recent press conference during Book Week, said about the latest statistics on per capita reading in Iran: “Currently, I am hesitant to talk about this issue, because per capita reading is not a one-dimensional item that comes solely from the information and statistics of the Public Libraries Institution. At the institution, we ultimately have statistics on the number of active members, the number of books, and the number of books borrowed. But how much of that leads to actual reading is unclear.”

Therefore, it seems that “reading in Iran” is a multifaceted issue requiring continuous research. However, it appears there are many other robust criteria in the field of evaluating the status of books and reading that have turned not only the per capita reading rate but the core story itself – the presence or absence of the “reading issue” – into a problem.

Beyond stating or not stating the per capita reading rate; what is the reality of not reading books?

Let’s view the bitterness about the reality of reading in Iran as a doctor’s prescription, not self-abasement; it’s bitter but can be the first step towards curing the pain. The pain of unawareness about the absence of the issue! It seems that what is more accurate than the official numbers and figures for per capita reading is the absence of the “book issue” among Iranian families.

Perhaps there are examples to the contrary; for instance, the crowd at the Tehran International Book Fair or transaction statistics at this event; or annual book production statistics in Iran, and even the number of publishers, or statistics of visits to online book stores, even the increasing growth of book street vendors which in recent years has become a new, albeit strange, criterion for examining the reading status of the Iranian people, and a tool for analysis for some.

However, it seems that each of these examples, lined up to demonstrate interest in books and reading, can be challenged to some extent with a few official quantitative statistics.

For example, book circulation; we know that since the beginning of this year, according to the Iran House of Book and Literature, the total circulation of published books is 59,279,245 copies, and the average circulation is 857 copies. Let’s put these numbers next to the total population; according to the Statistical Center of Iran’s estimate, Iran has over 86 million people, of whom, according to the head of the Literacy Movement Organization, 98% are literate; that is, over 82 million Iranians! Let’s review: an average circulation of 857 copies and 82 million literate people?!

Of course, it goes without saying that the publication of this many copies of books does not necessarily mean they are bought or read, but we know that examining book circulation is considered a significant criterion for evaluating the status of books in society.

Furthermore, according to the Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education, 3 million students are studying in Iran, and as Professor Abdolhossein Azarang says, this statistic is higher than the entire population of Latvia with 2 million people; a country where book circulation reaches 10,000 copies; while university publishers in Iran have been warning for years about the gradual removal of books from students’ purchase lists and their replacement by handouts.

Another point is that it is clear that the main reason for Iranian families’ inattention to reading is stated to be the price of books. If we accept the existence of such an obstacle, why are public libraries also underutilized? According to the Secretary-General of the Public Libraries Institution, “A total of 14 million people have become members of the country’s public libraries over the past 21 years, but active members are slightly more than two and a half million people.”

Even if we move past the comparison of book purchases with other consumer goods such as cosmetics, mobile phones, the cost of various so-called trending items including all sorts of toys, and the strange costs of shoes and clothing; it seems that Iranian society is not angry with books, but not friends with them either.

The emptiness of bookstores during busy hours and days of other consumer goods shops in the city, and of course their conversion to eateries, as well as the complaints of local booksellers about the lack of customers and slow business; all confirm the existence of a problem: Is a book a priority for Iranian families? How much should one expect people to read books at all?

The first day of Book Week, which has begun its thirty-third season, has been announced as “Book and Reading,” a day that should not be lost among the flood of economic and political news; perhaps it is an opportunity to find an answer to the question of why we don’t read books?