The Book Still Has the Last Word

According to the correspondent of the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), the fourth specialized meeting of the University Publishing Center on the topic of “Book as a Medium” was held on Tuesday (November 18th) at the University Publishing Center, with the participation of Hamed Zare, editor-in-chief of IBNA, and Somayeh Labafi, a faculty member of the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology.

Labafi, a faculty member of the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology, referring to the historical role of books in the development of science, said: “In an era of expanding social media platforms and weakening the authority of official media, we must seek new strategies to attract readers’ attention to books and the study of longer content than messages; such as creating platforms for sharing book content during authorship and receiving feedback from readers. Books can be offered in various formats to attract more readers.”

She emphasized the importance of audience needs assessment and considered the role of publishers still decisive in boosting the book’s economic cycle.

Following this meeting, Zare, editor-in-chief of the Iran Book News Agency, rejected the idea of new media competing with books, stating: “Books have no rival, and cyberspace has not replaced them. It is an individual’s choice to read a book. The identity of books remains strong, and their epistemic authority has been preserved and must be strengthened.”

He also emphasized the necessity of targeted use of new media capacities and stated: “New media should be employed in the service of promoting books and reading, and utilized to attract audiences.”

According to IBNA; at the end of this meeting, the issue of per capita book study in the country and ways to improve it were discussed and evaluated.