Since the employment of stone and clay tablets as the first mediums of recording events by the ancient Sumerians and the use of papyrus scrolls by the early Egyptians to the time of invention of "e-books" during the contemporary era, the history of books has enjoyed a remarkable course of evolution.
Books are the path between the past and future, a link between generations and a bridge across cultures. They are the guardians of the historical and national heritage of the countries as the manifestation of all values of a specific nation.
Books are the means for the transmission of the legacy of the ancestors to the present and future generations and such important goal will be realized through the efforts of the authors; because these individuals have always endeavored to direct the members of the society towards collective wisdom and promotion of the level of their daily lives and communications with their surrounding world through transferring the today's knowledge on the basis of the past history.
It was due to such important role of books and authors in the mankind's daily lives that at the proposal of ECO Cultural Institute, the year 2018 was named the 'Year of Reading Culture in ECO Region'. Moreover, in order to provide an opportunity to highlight the power of books in promoting the knowledge of societies and encouraging people to read books, UNESCO has also marked April 23 as the 'World Book and Copyright Day' which is celebrated every year all across the world. On the occasion of this day, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to all the bibliophiles and authors.
Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Mazaheri
President of ECO Cultural Institute