Bookstores must be place of family leisure, says new minister of culture

Armenia’s newly appointed minister of culture says he intends to initiate reforms in the publishing sector as his first drastic step after taking office.

Speaking to Tert.am, Armen Amiryan said that he has come up with the idea of turning bookstores into places of leisure to increase the society’s interest in books. “Bookstores must become places of family leisure to enable one to not only read and buy a book but also organize family rest. I believe it will be the most drastic change. And so the government must to envisage certain privileges for those who are going to make investments in the sector,” he said, promising to address more issues on Wednesday.

Promising to make his work open and transparent, the minister admitted that there are considerably serious steps to take and projects to realize in almost all the areas within his competence. He added that he believes in his ability to get significant reforms underway. “Otherwise I see no point behind [the decision] to appoint me,” he added.

Asked whether his candidacy for the post for proposed by the new prime minister or the president, Amiryan declined to give any comment. “I was pleased to accept the proposal I had received, so I am coming to serve our culture and our people,” he said.