Mohammad Husseini:
Books among Culture Ministry's main concerns
21 Nov 2011 17:34
In the closing ceremony of the 19th Book Week of the Islamic Republic of Iran, minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mohammad Husseini, named books as the ministry's number one priority and called for the elongation of the Book Week's programs.
IBNA: In his address at the ceremony, Husseini stated that titles of the Week's days resembled its directions and most of the goals were materialized but this would not mean that the measures are enough, and more needs to be done.
He noted the recent numbers released by the statistics center of the Foundation of Public Libraries and said they show an increase in the amount of time spent reading books by Iranians but the amount is still far from enough and needs to grow more.
"The more people become literate and knowledgeable, the more they need mental throughput," he asserted. "No country can progress unless it enjoys a book-lover nation."
"We must activate all potentials to reach a landmark growth in the reading time in the country and this would not be possible without a firm determination by writers, researchers, publishers and the society," he further asserted.
