TEHRAN – FIDIBO, a major online Iranian store for audio and electronic books, has said e-book readers have significantly increased in number due to the home quarantine enforced following the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Speaking to the Persian service of MNA on Sunday, FIDIBO Managing Director Neda Baradaran said the number of e-book readers has increased to four times higher than the number registered before the COVID-19 epidemic in the country in February.

“A large number of the readers have read our e-books due to the reading campaigns FIDIBO launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and several major publishing companies in early March,” she noted.

Baradaran said the FIDIBO has not considered the home quarantine a new opportunity to boost its activities and added, “Many of our books have been offered for free or at big discounts.”

She added that many of the books are in the Iranian publishers’ bestseller list.

Baradaran noted that the home quarantine forced many people to be acquainted with the FIDIBO services for the first time.

The shutdown of bookstores following the spread of COVID-19 across Iran has pushed many people into using online stores offering audiobooks and e-books.

In addition, there has been a huge increase in the number of Iranian users of streaming broadcast networks and online concerts after the shutdown of movie theaters and concerts over the coronavirus pandemic.

Photo: A design for e-books.

MMS/RM