During this visit the Leader was informed about the new publications and books presented in the exhibition and also spoke with the publishers. At the end of his visit to the Tehran International Book Fair, Imam Khamenei, spoke with an IRIB journalist and expressed his immense satisfaction with this visit. He described the Book Fair as a great popular gathering with a dominant cultural aspect. “Praise God, signs of good news, efforts and youthful motives are being observed at the Book Fair,” he said.
Imam Khamenei added that, "the people’s reception of the Book Fair has been very good, based on the statistics presented above and the number of books that have been purchased".
Imam Khamenei stated that the issue of book publishing in the country is making progress despite some unfavorable conditions. "The main unfavorable areas in the field of publishing are related to the high costs of paper and in some cases, poor paper quality. Of course, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance gave some good news about preparations being made for the production of high-quality paper, which we hope will break the high prices of books."
The Leader underlined that publishing is an important part of the subject of reading books in the country and matters relating to it should be smooth, good, and comprehensive.
Imam Khamenei considered books as an important subject emphasizing that the creation of social norms always requires books and that despite the expansion of social medial, books still hold a very lofty and important place.
He considered reading a requirement in order to produce good artistic works and media productions. "I always advise people, especially the youth, to read books. However, today I would like to place special emphasis on the necessity of reading and studying books by media programmers and those who are active in the field of arts, performing arts and the news agencies."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution made reference to the high share of books authored by Iranian authors in the country and also pointed out the issue of translating these books into foreign languages. "The translation of books that are written inside the country should be given serious attention. Of course, translators who are completely competent should be used to translate these books."
In another part of this interview, Imam Khamenei stressed the issue of books for children and teenagers. "We should try as much as possible to produce books for children and teenagers in accordance with our own culture, in order to eliminate the need for foreign books," he said.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution also pointed out his interest in reading various books, especially the memoirs related to the era of the Sacred Defense and the martyrs who defended the Holy Shrines. "These memoirs are very valuable and are considered as a new type of book production. Our female authors are very active in this field and they write very well."
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