2010 World Book Day
23rd April marks World Book Day - a day chosen by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading which is observed worldwide in over 100 countries. World Book Day is the largest annual tribute to books, urging everyone, especially young people, to learn the joy of reading.
Find out more about World Book Day here.
In a fast-moving world where technological innovation has brought new developments in e-books and online access to contents of books, UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova has maintained that in celebrating World Book Day, it is important to remember that there can be no book development without consideration for copyright, especially when digitization further exposes books to risks of illicit use. The growth in new technology and its enormous potential to change and improve our world has been commented on by politicians and leaders worldwide. This is especially true in the UK at present, where new technology will play a greater role than ever before in the upcoming general election. Yet many people in the UK will not be a part of that process as they cannot read – a serious democratic deficit.
In the UK, one-third of the British population never picks up a book.
In the UK, World Book Day has always placed a great emphasis on children. Celebrated this year on 4th March, several million schoolchildren were given a £1 special World Book Day Book Token, providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own. World Book Day UK has been gradually growing each year to include more projects, such as Spread The Word, Quick Reads Initiative and Books for Hospitals.
The Quick Reads series (launched in 2006) is aimed at reaching out to the millions of adults in the UK with reading difficulties and the one-third of the British population that never picks up a book. This year, continuing with the focus on adults, in participating bookshops, readers were able to buy any paperback under £10 and get a second one free, encouraging them to give a book to a friend or to charity on World Book Day. Through these initiatives, World Book and Copyright Day is more relevant in the UK than ever before, with new technology and literacy issues now impacting at the heart of the democratic process.
Written: 20/04/2010 , last modified: 20/04/2010
World Book Day 2010 poster