report in TOLOnews, Aug 12, 2023 at 10:22 AM
The commission to assess the Problems of Booksellers said that at least 30 percent of booksellers have stopped their business due to lack of a good market.
Abdul Wodod Mukhtarzada, a member of the commission, told TOLOnews that the booksellers are also complaining about high taxes which are difficult to pay as their business has dropped.
“We used to sell more than 500 books and we had 200 librarians here but I can say now that their number has dropped significantly,” he said.
TOLOnews interviewed several booksellers and also expressed concern that book reading culture has faded.
“There are issues because of the lack of female students’ presence in the universities. This issue also affects the book business,” said Sharifullah, a bookseller.
“You know that the market is down and the people lack the capacity to purchase books. Also there are many types of taxes and the Kabul municipality sends their representatives,” said Mansour Qazizada, a bookseller.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information and Culture said that efforts are underway to pardon the taxes of the libraries as a move to support the book markets in the country.
“We are trying to waive taxes on books and thus we can implement a tradition of book reading. We have held various exhibitions,” said Mahajar Farahi, deputy minister of Information and Culture for publications. https://tolonews.com/arts-culture-184598
