Celebrate Reading with World Book Night at the Library

This week’s column was submitted by Claire Greene of the .

In a book very dear to me it is written, “every book has a soul, the soul of the person who wrote it and the soul of those who read it and dream about it.”

I love this phrase because it evokes the idea that there is a wonderful engaging book out there somewhere waiting for each of us to stumble upon and remember forever. This idea may occur freely to those of us who read regularly, but I think it might seem a strange concept to the great many people who don’t consider themselves avid readers.

Earlier:

As someone who works in readers’ services, and furthermore, as someone with a profound love of the written word, I’d like to believe that anyone without an interest in reading simply hasn’t found the right book yet. To this end World Book Night was launched in the U.K. last year on April 23. This date was chosen because it is the anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes’ death as well as the birth and death of William Shakespeare.

This year World Book Night has crossed the pond for its international debut. As described on its website, World Book Night is an “annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books.”

It is a program wherein thousands of special not-for-resale books are transported to drop-off locations around the United Kingdom and the United States to be collected by “givers” at no expense to them. A list of the books chosen for this year’s event is available on World Book Night’s website; they’re specially selected for their wide appeal.

Those who sign-up to give will then take the books they’ve collected to public areas in their community, such as shopping centers and parks, where they will attempt to share them with people who consider themselves non-readers.

The Des Plaines Public Library has signed on to be an official drop-off point this year with every intention to maintain this role next year. While it’s too late to register to give in 2012, you are able to add your name to a mailing list to be notified when registration begins for 2013.

Be sure to look out for your local givers on April 23, and if you consider yourself a non-reader, let them know. You’re only one book away from becoming a bibliophile, and it may be waiting for you at World Book Night.  

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