Saturday, July 5, 2014

Who knew about World Book Night? - apparently a whole lot of people







For the love of reading......






Because everything changes when we read


World Book Night is about giving books and encouraging those who have lost the love of reading – or are yet to gain it – to pick up a book and read. Line by line, paragraph by paragraph until they too have discovered the power of reading and the opportunities in life that reading can open the door to. 





Goals

To raise the profile of reading through a mass engagement project which works at a grass roots level to inspire those who don’t regularly read to do so. To place books into the hands of those who don’t regularly read
  • To place books into the hands of those who don’t regularly read
  • To raise the profile of reading for pleasure through a series of celebratory events
  • To improve literacy in the UK and Ireland
  • To bring communities together.
  


In the UK 35% of people don’t regularly read despite reading for pleasure being a globally recognized indicator in a huge range of social issues from poverty to mental health. They come from all walks of life and all over the country, but there are specific areas of society with a higher proportion of people who don’t read who we’re interested in targeting. We are decicated to reaching out to those who have least access to books and could benefit most from them, by working closely with other charities and delivery partners. Through various networks we have successfully focused on the following key areas:
  • Homeless
  • Prisons
  • Adult Learners
  • Audiobooks for the Blind & Partially Sighted
  • Care homes / Sheltered housing
  • Social Housing
  • Supported Housing
  • Hospitals.
By enlisting thousands of passionate book lovers around the country, World Book Night reaches out to these people in the hope that we can start them on their reading journey.

The American edition of World Book Night was celebrated on April 23, and activities around the country involved a baseball game, a Meals on Wheels program, and Broadway musicals as well as the more traditional bookstore and library celebrations.

 
A World Book Night volunteer distributes books in London.
Luke Macgregor/Reuters
 
 
On World Book Night, volunteers distribute copies of pre-selected books to family, friends, or anyone they meet. The event was held in the US and Germany for the first time in 2012, while the UK and Ireland started it in 2011.

Some of the titles selected to be given out this year included “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs, “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed, and “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” by Maria Semple.

This was the first year that a graphic novel (“Same Difference” by Derek Kirk Kim) was given out and the book “When I Was Puerto Rican” by Esmerelda Santiago, which was distributed in both English and Spanish, was the first title to be available in Spanish.

According to industry newsletter Shelf Awareness, this year’s WBN was the largest ever, with about 580,000 copies of books given out by more than 29,000 distributors.

Many bookstores held parties and some included authors, like the celebration at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Company that was attended by Semple.

Meanwhile, there were some creative distributions methods. According to the World Book Night Instagram account, books were given out at Broadway performances of “Matilda” and “Cinderella.” In Boston, those who attended a Red Sox game at Fenway Park had the opportunity to receive copies of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s baseball book“Wait Till Next Year.”

In addition, those who visited the American side of the Otay Mesa border crossing between the US and Mexico were offered copies of“Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson and New York City’s Henry Street Settlement added a book to the meals they gave more than 1,000 Meals on Wheels participants, according to Shelf Awareness.

                                    source:  barringtonservice.org/World-Book-Night.php

Come on Canada and other countries around the world.  Get on board.  What a fantastic event!  We all need to join the cause of World Book Night.  We all need to make a valiant effort to get books into the hands of the people, get them reading and make a huge different in our world with literacy once again.  We  have been asleep for so long, wake up world, we can do this....grab a book and pass it on. Let the reading journey begin.....and  let it start with you!!!


                                                                       
                                                        
                                                 Reading tips to help your bookworm grow....









Your Saturday Morning Smile:




Remember to read on and read always!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  See you back here on Monday.

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