The rate of people reading books in Turkey rose from 30% to 42% in the last 11 years, according to a study.

The study conducted by the Turkish Publishers Association, the Okuyay Platform and the research company Konda was presented at the 38th International Istanbul Book Fair on Sunday.

Konda President Bekir Ağırdır said that the increase was not rapid but the outlook was very positive. "It was not as fast as we desire, but we see that everything is going well according to all the data collected in 11 years," Ağırdır said.

He stated that the people, in general, are aware of the benefits of reading but pointed out that there is some prejudice against the youth. "While the reading habits of youth in Western Europe is decreasing due to the influence of social media, the opposite can be observed in Turkey. Here both the usage of social media and the reading habits are increasing", Ağırdır said.

Pointing out that the most popular kind of genre was historical he said that the biggest factor of the increase in the rate was family and their support.

The Okuyay Platform plans to compile the results of the study and announce the details to the public.