Riyadh, 8 October 2025 (16 Rabi’ al-Thani 1447H) – The Riyadh International Book Fair 2025 is witnessing a notable trend this year, with visitors increasingly buying books as gifts for friends and family, a cultural phenomenon that reflects the growing maturity of public awareness of the importance of reading and the widening interest in books as a means of expression and influence.

Amid the crowds filling the fair’s halls, the scene of "a book is a gift that lasts" affirms a shift in the concept of gift-giving, where a gift is no longer merely material but symbolic and intellectual, expressing values, emotions and ideas.

Khaled Al-Harbi, 42, said while shopping in the children’s books pavilion:

"The best gift for my children is a book. A phone gets replaced and toys wear out, but a book stays." He added that the real gift is building a reading habit at home and instilling a love of knowledge from an early age.

In the novels pavilion, Sarah Al-Abdullah, 34, chose a book for her friend, saying that giving books carries a personal message that expresses appreciation in a different way, since every title carries a special meaning for both giver and recipient.

Mona Al-Zahrani, 27, an Arabic language teacher, preferred to give a book to an outstanding student, affirming that a book remains a testament to an intellectual relationship between teacher and student and serves as a practical way to encourage new generations to read.

Abdulrahman Al-Shammari, 29, said he takes care in choosing his books, seeing a book as the ideal gift because it combines idea and emotion, speaking to both mind and heart.

In the book-signing pavilion, visitors experienced special moments with authors, who offered personal dedications carrying encouraging words and heartfelt messages to their readers, viewing the act of dedication as part of the enduring relationship between writer and reader and the start of a new cultural dialogue that extends beyond the pages of the book.

This growing trend toward giving books as gifts is seen as a sign of the maturing cultural scene in the Kingdom, cementing the book’s place in social life as a symbol of knowledge and refined taste, and as a gift choice that reflects the giver’s character and interest in ideas and creativity.

The Riyadh International Book Fair 2025 is held under the slogan "Riyadh Reads," part of the "Saudi Arabia Reads" campaign launched by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, aiming to promote a culture of reading and support interaction between authors and the public. The fair runs through 11 October with broad participation from local and international publishing houses.

This public engagement with books comes as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to achieve the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to strengthen cultural awareness and empower literature and publishing as pillars of building a knowledge-based, thriving society.