World Book Night USA

April 23, 2012

I’m proud to be a book-giver for the first annual World Book Night USA, which takes place today. I’ll be gifting 20 copies of Stephen King’s The Stand to people this evening after work.

I’ve just finished a re-read (re-listen, rather!) of this, one of my favorite Stephen King books, to refresh my memory of the many events and characters of King’s epic apocalyptic tale that has remained popular for decades. You can find my review of the book here (this link will be live later this afternoon or evening), but beware spoilers! The presence of this book on the WBN list was the reason I signed up to be a book giver and I’m excited to share this story with 20 night clerks at convenience stores and motels in my small community this evening!

World Book Night began in the UK in 2011 and has made its way to the United States. This year, tens of thousands of volunteer book givers will give away hundreds of thousands of books in an effort to make non-readers into readers. Following is some info from the World Book Night USA website:

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What is World Book Night?

World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books. To be held in the U.S. as well as the U.K. and Ireland on April 23, 2012. It will see tens of thousands of people go out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks.

World Book Night, through social media and traditional publicity, will also promote the value of reading, of printed books, and of bookstores and libraries to everyone year-round.

Successfully launched in the U.K. in 2011, World Book Night will also be celebrated in the U.S. in 2012, with news of more countries to come in future years. Please join our mailing list for regular World Book Night U.S. news. And thank you to our U.K. friends for such a wonderful idea!

Additionally, April 23 is UNESCO’s World Book Day, chosen due to the anniversary of Cervantes’ death, as well as Shakespeare’s birth and death.

This site exists in order to learn more about World Book Night and to keep updated on new developments – and most important, to register to be a World Book Night U.S. book giver.

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To see the many wonderful people and publishers behind this book-giving celebration, check out the who is link on the website: Who is behind World Book Night?

To see the 30 titles that were offered to book-givers this year, follow this link: The Books.

If you’re interested in keeping up with WBN goings on and/or would like to be a book giver for WBN next year, follow them on Facebook and Twitter for info and news.

Keep reading! And keep encouraging non-readers to start reading!

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