Book and reading in Iran are facing multiple crises because, on one hand, they are inheriting global problems such as the decline of the book market due to the emergence of powerful competitors like cinema, television, virtual space, and various computer games, as well as new media such as audio works, and on the other hand, they are specifically affected by censorship, special crises in the publishing industry in Iran, and the decline of purchasing power of book lovers in this country.

I will not speak about the global and universal causes of the crisis of the book, because in a situation where all countries are struggling with common problems, it is not fair to solely blame the domestic authorities of the book industry. However, despite the weak and fragile state of the publishing and printing industry and the overall phenomenon of books and reading in Iran, the authorities have burdened the people of the book in Iran with a heavier load compared to other societies, and they increase it day by day. To the point where the people of the book – from writers and translators to publishers and readers – feel indebted and say: there is no hope for us, do not bring us any more harm!

The truth is that those in charge of books and reading in Iran not only do not help to alleviate the difficulties in this field, but also openly increase the severity and number of these difficulties. It goes without saying that at the forefront of these problems is the existence of a censorship and inspection system that day by day adds to its absurdity, irrationality, and immorality. We could talk at length about the harms of censorship, but we are forced to just mention it briefly. Censorship not only harms writers and publishers and discourages them, but also makes readers skeptical of even the uncensored works available in the market and harms them as well. Moreover, if we accept that the prosperity of books and reading is one of the important and influential factors in fostering critical thinking, we must admit that the threatening and limiting factors that hinder easy and free access to a wide range of books only serve to hinder the development of critical thinking and, consequently, disrupt social progress.

On the other hand, censorship and the removal of narratives and perspectives of dissenters and critics of the ruling structure drags society towards erasing historical memory, which itself is considered a component of totalitarian structures. In numerous works, from Fahrenheit 451 to 1984 by George Orwell and works by Milan Kundera, we are familiar with this warning that censorship and distortion are attempts to impose forgetfulness and erase the memory of the people, which is a fundamental condition for the realization of a totalitarian government. Any form of censorship leads to impoverishment of understanding and culture.

As mentioned, the discussion about the consequences of censorship has a long tail that cannot be contained in this brief summary. But even beyond this destructive monster, the continuation of this issue persists through seven generations and it can boldly be claimed that there are hundreds of barriers and obstacles in the way of the spread of books and reading in Iran. It is not only the duty of the government to remove them, but it must be sadly acknowledged that the government itself is the main cause and factor of these obstacles. For example, it should be noted that in a holistic view, all components of a structure are connected to each other and to the whole. When most people struggle to even provide their daily meals, how can we expect the spread of books and reading in this society? When other cultural sectors are suffering from extreme poverty and cinema, music, theater, museums, galleries, cultural houses, etc. have become weak and impoverished, how can we believe that books are exempt from this? The spread or decline of

All of these things, which are easy, when the government should be the guarantor and responsible for the security of artists and thinkers, they themselves should be the first accused of suppressing and killing them, how can we expect the promotion of books and reading in a society where writers are targeted?

From these, reading is a type of culture that must be nurtured. Why do we think that we need to be taught to have good handwriting, but not for reading etiquette? Why does our education system have no program for promoting a culture of reading? Do we not learn, even in the simplest form, proper methods of studying, note-taking, and understanding material in any level of education from elementary school to higher education centers? These things, which are easy, do they even teach students how to flip through a book? Neglecting the culture of reading to a large extent is a result of the failure and defectiveness of our education system.

Based on this analogy, among the other accused – without exaggeration – this crime is the responsibility of the media and specifically our national broadcasting. The national broadcasting allocates the least amount of time and space for programs related to books, and even in this limited time and space, it censors and suppresses opinions. Let’s not even mention the quality of these programs, which is also a story full of tears.

On the other hand, our public library network is flawed in a way that if it didn’t exist, there would be no reason for a book to remain in the hands of its publisher after two or three years, even with several hundred copies in print. The meaning of this statement is that if we had three thousand public libraries throughout the country, with only one copy of each book, the average print run for books in Iran, especially literary books, would not be paralyzed at two or three hundred copies.

Unfortunately, this story of sorrow has no end; one can talk about the lack or shortage of specialized publications, the excessive weakness in the field of criticism, the lack of expertise among cultural managers of the country and their purely political perspective, the rampant corruption, discrimination, and government-sponsored gang activities. On the other hand, one can also mention the obstruction of the formation of real and independent guilds for writers and publishers, or the substitution of ideology and religious displays instead of culture, art, literature, and humanities. However, no matter what we say, it will only be seen as a handful of complaints. The track record of government officials in the matter of books is so dark and obscure that it must be said that they have deliberately and knowingly turned their backs on books and reading, and their daily attention and planning is not for the promotion of reading, but for its suppression and destruction in society.