Tehran Book Garden in Tehran, Iran is usually regarded as the Worlds Biggest Bookstore. The vast cultural complex spans approximately 110,000 square meters, and the interior of the space includes bookstores, galleries, theaters, science centers and various other spaces for approximately 65,000 square meters. It’s estimated that its special bookstore zone is approximately 25 000 square meters, or some 269 000 square feet.

That’s not just a typical bookstore. Tehran Book Garden is a cultural site, where people can read, study, watch films, participate in activities, have a meal and spend several hours in various areas.

But there’s one thing I want to note. The largest single bookstore, as far as floor space, that Guinness World Records can find is still a former Barnes & Noble store in New York. That store occupied 154,250 ft², but it eventually went out of business.

Why Is Tehran Book Garden So Big?

Most Worlds Biggest Bookstore are planned in terms of shelves and check-out counters, and maybe one or two cafes. The project for Tehran Book Garden was very different in terms of size.

There are a number of features that account for its huge size.

• The enormous bookstore area – It has been said that the complex of about 25,000 square meters is termed as the space dedicated to the bookstore.
• Children’s areas – Areas were constructed for children and young people.
• Science facilities – Visitors will find educational and science related areas as well as books.
• Movie theaters – There are several movie theaters and performance areas in the complex.

Food and relaxation areas such as cafés and restaurants allow spending the majority of the day indoors.

Cultural events: Workshops, exhibitions, talks and others are held throughout the complex.

The outcome is more akin to a cultural city than to a mere book store.

The Bookstore That Holds the Modern Size Claim

After the construction of Tehran Book Garden in the year of 1396, it was inaugurated in Abbasabad Hills area of Tehran in 2017. The project had been conceived several years ago, and had originally been suggested as a permanent cultural venue, as Iran is very interested in books and the Tehran International Book Fair.

The total site area is approximately 110,000 m². The total area is approximately 65,000 m², including exhibition space, bookstore, conference space, cultural space and administrative space. The remaining area consists of outdoor landscapes, green spaces and other public areas.

The report on the complex says the dedicated bookstore has a gross floor area of approximately 25,000 sq meters. That’s quite a large book store by itself compared to many famous book stores around the world. 

What About the Guinness World Record?

The title is a little confusing here.

Barnes & Noble (105 Fifth Avenue, New York City) is the world’s biggest bookstore by area, according to Guinness World Records. The store was 154,250 square feet (or approximately 14,330 square meters) and had approximately 12.87 miles of shelving.

But that store later shut down. The World Economic Forum (WEF) had closed its doors by 2014, long before Tehran Book Garden opened.

That’s why the difference is significant: 

Bookstore	Approximate Size	Record/Status
Tehran Book Garden, Iran	25,000 m² bookstore area	Commonly described as the world’s biggest operating bookstore
Barnes & Noble, Fifth Avenue, NYC	14,330 m²	Guinness-listed largest individual bookshop; location later closed
Powell’s City of Books, Portland	Around 6,300 m²	One of the world’s largest independent bookstores
Strand Book Store, New York	Around 5,000 m²	One of America’s most famous large bookstores

The difference mainly comes down to how “biggest bookstore” is defined and whether a cultural complex containing a giant bookstore is counted in the same way as a conventional retail store.

What Is Inside Tehran Book Garden?

To call Tehran Book Garden a Worlds Biggest Bookstore is not exactly an appropriate description of the experience.

There are various sections of the complex that are for various ages and activities. There are books for adults, kids, teens and academic readers in separate sections.

Children form a special group of the project. According to its opening reports, there were hundreds of thousands of children’s books on site, and science and activity areas were planned to make the complex more interesting for the younger.

Theaters, galleries, classrooms, research spaces, restaurants, cafés and space for cultural events are also provided. Outdoor spaces consist of landscape areas and places for visitors to relax.

One of the reasons for that is its mixture. 

How Many Books Does the World’s Biggest Bookstore Have?

There is no single permanently fixed number because bookstore inventories continually change.

Around the time Tehran Book Garden opened, reports stated that its children’s and adult sections together offered roughly 400,000 books across about 70,000 subjects or categories.

Other reports also referenced more than 400,000 titles or books in children’s sections alone, which shows that published figures vary depending on what part of the complex was being counted.

For that reason, physical size is a more reliable way to compare the world’s largest bookstores than inventory totals.

Other Giant Bookstores Worth Knowing

Tehran may have the Worlds Biggest Bookstore claim for sheer physical scale today, but several other bookstores are famous for different reasons.

Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon, is one of the best-known independent bookstores in the world. It occupies an entire city block and is especially famous for placing new and used books together on the same shelves.

The Strand Book Store in New York City became famous partly through its enormous inventory and its long-running slogan referring to “miles of books.” It remains one of the best-known independent bookstores in the United States.

The former Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue store deserves a place in the discussion because Guinness officially recorded its 154,250-square-foot size in 1999.

These stores may be smaller than Tehran Book Garden, but their importance comes from history, independence, collections, and influence as much as physical dimensions.

Why Build a Bookstore This Large?

A Worlds Biggest Bookstore may seem unusual at a time when millions of books can be purchased online in seconds.

But places like Tehran Book Garden are built around something the internet cannot fully replace: the experience of being around books and other readers.

Visitors can browse without knowing exactly what they want. Children can interact with educational exhibitions. Students can meet or study. Families can watch films, eat, shop, and attend cultural activities without leaving the complex.

That turns the bookstore into a destination rather than simply a retail outlet.

There is also a practical advantage. Large bookstores can carry specialist categories that smaller shops may not have enough shelf space to stock.

Does Bigger Mean Better?

Not necessarily.

The size of a bookstore says very little about how enjoyable it will be for an individual reader. A small independent bookstore with knowledgeable staff and carefully selected books can offer a better experience than a giant store.

Size records are interesting because they show what is physically possible. What makes bookstores memorable, however, is usually the combination of books, atmosphere, history, architecture, and the people who use them.

Tehran Book Garden happens to combine enormous dimensions with many other cultural attractions, which is why its size has received so much international attention.

Final Thought

The worlds biggest bookstore is generally considered Tehran Book Garden in Iran, especially when looking at currently operating bookstore space. Its dedicated bookshop area is reported at around 25,000 square meters, while the complete cultural complex contains roughly 65,000 square meters of indoor space on a site of about 110,000 square meters.

The record needs one qualification. Guinness World Records still lists the former Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue store in New York, measuring 154,250 square feet, as its largest individual bookshop record holder. That location has since closed.

So if you’re talking about a giant bookstore you can still visit, Tehran Book Garden has one of the strongest claims to the title. And with books, cinemas, science spaces, cafés, galleries, and enormous reading areas under one roof, it shows just how far the idea of a bookstore can be stretched.