The Sunbird and the Story of Kanun with Lily Amir-Arjomand and Mandana Zandian

October 24, 2025The Sunbird and the Story of Kanun: Revisiting the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in IranIn 1965, a visionary proposal by Lily Amir-Arjomand to Queen Farah Pahlavi—to establish a library for children in Iran—gave rise to The Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, known in Iran simply as Kanun. Over the next thirteen years, under Amir-Arjomand’s leadership, more than 250 permanent and mobile libraries opened their doors in cities and villages across the country. Alongside them, cultural centers flourished, dedicated to publishing, cinema, theater, music, and animation for children. To mark Kanun’s 60th anniversary, Dr. Mandana Zandian's new book The Sunbird looks back at these formative years. The book unfolds in two parts, both in interview format: a long in-depth conversation with Lily Amir-Arjomand, and a collection of twenty-three short interviews with those who helped build Kanun’s diverse cultural centers or who were once members of its libraries.Lily Amir-Arjomand is the founder and first Managing director of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in Iran. She studied French Literature at the University of Tehran. After completing an intensive library science training program at the Iran-America Society, she joined in developing the newly established library of the National University. A few years later, she earned a master’s degree in library science and children literature from Rutgers University in the United States and returned to Iran with the vision of establishing a children’s library. Meanwhile she managed the library of the National Iranian Oil Company for three years. In collaboration with Marguerite Hopkins, a library consultant and instructor, and four other librarians, she helped draft the statutes of the Iranian Librarians Association and contributed to organizing the master’s program in Library Science at the University of Tehran. Amir-Arjomand also taught library science at the University of Tehran for one year. Ultimately, with the support of Empress Farah Pahlavi, she founded the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in 1965 and served as its managing director until leaving Iran in 1979. In 2021, the film magazine “Sight & Sound” included Lily Amir-Arjomand in its list of “100 Hidden Cinema Heroes,” recognizing her as one of the individuals who have shaped the course of filmmaking history.Mandana Zandian graduated from Shahid Beheshti Medical School in 1997. She worked as a researcher at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles for 20 years, specializing in research on aggressive forms of advanced cancers. Dr. Zandian is also a published poet, author, and journalist, actively collaborating with "Rahavard" quarterly journal. Her books include: Omid o Azadi (Hope and Liberty, Los Angeles, 2012) on the life and works of Iraj Gorgin; Baz-khani-e Dah Shab (The Ten-Nights Revisited, Los Angeles, 2014); Ehsan Yarshater in Conversation with Mandana Zandian (Los Angeles, 2016); Persian Cypress and the Blooms of Modernity, in Conversation with Abbas Milani (Los Angeles, 2023). She also edited Yaddashtha (Diaries, Washington DC, 2021), a collection of notes written between 1986-2012 for the journals "Irannameh" and "Iranshenasi" by Dr. Ehsan Yarshater. Zandian's most recent collection of poems is titled Seda-ye Saye-haye Ham Boodim (Our Voice Echoed the Shadows of All, Los Angeles, 2019). Dr. Zandian is also the host and producer of a podcast on Persian Literature titled "A Window of Freedom." She collaborated on a section of Homa Sarshar's weekly radio program, introducing Persian contemporary poets, for 10 years. Zandian's latest book, Morgh-e Aftab (The Sunbird), revisits the establishment and the first 13 years of the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults.