Interview with the Supreme Leader at the 10th Tehran International Book Fair

Thank you for giving us this opportunity. Over the past ten years, ten international book fairs have been held in Tehran, and you have visited all of them. How much does this fair contribute to the development of a culture of reading and the increasing use of books in society?

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Certainly, it has an impact. I am committed to attending this fair every year because I know that the public's interest in this fair signifies an interest in reading and shows that people are becoming more interested in books day by day. The better and more attractive these fairs are, the more they draw people in, and the more reading becomes widespread. I have observed over the years that as we move forward, this fair has improved. Although this fair has been around for ten or twelve years, each time I come and participate, I see it has become better than before. Especially in recent years, it has been very good. The point is that it is effective.

We wanted to know your opinion on what measures can attract public interest in books in our society and turn books into a common culture, promoting and establishing it in society.

Much has been said on this topic. I myself have introduced a new idea almost every year, and it is not a new subject. Well, the current efforts by the Ministry of Culture and other organizations to promote reading are good and effective. Today, three people at this fair—whether they had previously coordinated or not, I do not know—separately presented the same suggestion to me: to allocate an hour for reading in schools. I found it to be a good idea. The Ministry of Education must certainly examine this and see what can be done, for example, to replace the essay hour or the Persian hour with a reading hour so that students become familiar with the culture of reading. Whether they read themselves or the teacher reads to them, or one student reads while others listen, I think this was not a bad suggestion. Of course, it should be examined, and they will presumably report back to us. If it is found to be successful, such an hour should be established in schools. Perhaps this will also be effective.

Thank you.