Emphasis by the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance on Expanding Research and Scientific Activities of the Public Libraries Institution of the Country
Jul 21, 2018
According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Seyyed Abbas Salehi, speaking this morning, July 17th, at a meeting with the Secretary-General of the Public Libraries Foundation of the country and the new members of the Board of Trustees of this institution, emphasized that the interaction of the Board of Trustees of the Public Libraries Foundation with other legal institutions, including the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Planning and Budget Organization, the Municipality, etc., is aimed at synergy in necessary actions.
He continued: The Public Libraries Foundation of the country needs strengthening in some areas, including the strengthening and quantitative expansion of the country's public libraries. It is not good for a city to be without a library. Libraries have been and are our social base; therefore, we should not face problems in accessing libraries, especially in less privileged areas. How we act in the distribution of libraries and access to them requires a strategic and clear roadmap.
The member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution continued: Expanding the per capita study is another issue that the Public Libraries Foundation of the country should pay attention to. It is true that this institution is not solely responsible for this issue, but considering the solutions and the role it can play in improving the per capita study, it is an important and noteworthy issue; therefore, we must increase equitable expansion in this field.
He mentioned the maximum use of cultural, artistic, and religious spaces, including mosques, as another issue of concern and said: Cultural and artistic spaces are considered material and spiritual assets, and the Public Libraries Foundation of the country should strive to increase the efficiency of these spaces in order to promote the fields of reading.
Salehi further considered it important to pay attention to creating the necessary facilities to encourage children and adolescents to read and added: This area in the Public Libraries Foundation of the country should be considered with the perspective of investing in the education of a healthy, useful, and book-reading person. Reading should start from childhood and be institutionalized within the individual. The attention of this institution to this area also shows the importance of this issue.
The Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance in the twelfth government, emphasizing attention to specific groups in the Public Libraries Foundation of the country, said: Attention to this matter, including the blind community in the Public Libraries Foundation of the country, has begun and is an appropriate action because these groups have a social deprivation that is partially remedied through reading.
Salehi, emphasizing the strengthening of the scientific and research background of the Public Libraries Foundation of the country, added: In this regard, the capacity of scientific institutions can be used to further strengthen the research section of this institution.
He also considered the use of the scientific capacities of the library and information science, literature, and children and adolescents groups as necessary and said: The more the Public Libraries Foundation of the country interacts with these three groups, the more it helps the planning and operational process.
Salehi concluded by emphasizing the role of the private sector in promoting reading in the country and continued: Efforts should be made to increase the attention of the private sector in infrastructural investment and resources and to benefit from the elders of the field of books and reading in this regard.
At the beginning of this meeting, Alireza Mokhtarpour, the Secretary-General of the Public Libraries Foundation of the country, while presenting a report on the set of actions of this institution in the years 2017 and the first three months of 2018, said: From June 2014 to 2018, 529 libraries have been added to the country's public libraries.
Referring to the promotional and cultural activities of this institution, he continued: In 2017, 21,000 book reading sessions were held by the Public Libraries Foundation of the country, and research has also been conducted in this regard.
Mokhtarpour said: Since 2015, a virtual campaign has been launched by this institution to introduce books, according to which each person can introduce a book in a one- to three-minute video.
Mokhtarpour also presented a report on the set of activities of this institution from the eighth Razavi Book Reading Festival, the library tour project, the "Read Together" project, and so on. At the end of this meeting, the decrees of Houshang Moradi Kermani, Mehri Pari Rokh, Fatemeh Fahimnia, and Tayebeh Siavashi as the new real members of the Board of Trustees of the Public Libraries Foundation of the country were presented to them by the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
