Roshd Books Festival Confers the Growth Badge Award

The head of the Educational Research and Planning Organization announced that book procurement for school libraries will be limited to titles that have earned the Growth Badge.

According to the Public Relations and International Affairs Office of the Educational Research and Planning Organization, the closing ceremony of the 23rd National Growth Book Festival—held with the participation of education officials, authors, and publishers of children’s and young adult books—was held at Sura Hall of the Islamic Revolution Art Center.

In the ceremony, Dr. Ali Latifi congratulated the coincidence of the event with the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, and thanked publishers, authors, illustrators, and readers as the festival’s principal partners. He said that the Growth Book Festival is not merely an annual event, but a continuous process to enhance participation, build capacity, and promote a culture of reading among children and adolescents.

Referring to the collaboration of cultural institutions, he praised the support of organizations such as the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the High Council of the Cultural Revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the Art Center, and the cultural and artistic entities affiliated with Tehran Municipality.

Emphasizing the role of the Ministry of Education in developing school libraries, he added that in this edition all book purchases by Monadi Tarbiat Publishing were made based on the Growth Badge. He described this as an important step toward supporting the production of high-quality books and said it should be sustained.

Latifi also thanked the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare for awarding the Culture of Work Award, calling it one of the festival’s successful innovations.

He announced the launch of a new initiative: from this edition, the Growth Book Festival’s “Pride Award” will be conferred on writers who have the greatest number of Growth Badge-winning works. He noted that three veteran and distinguished writers will also receive special recognition in this edition.

Concluding, the head of the Educational Research and Planning Organization expressed gratitude to publishers and writers whose works exemplify a “good book” for children and adolescents, and voiced hope that the momentum of promoting a reading culture will continue with vigor.