World
Book Day is created by UNESCO on April 23, 1995 as a worldwide celebration of
books and reading. It is initiated in over 100 countries around the
globe.
World Book Day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of
books and reading. Each year, on 23 April, celebrations take place all over the
world to recognize the scope of books - a link between the past and the future,
a bridge between generations and across cultures. On this occasion, UNESCO and
the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the
book industry - publishers, booksellers and libraries, select the World Book Capital for a year to maintain,
through its own initiatives, the impetus of the Day’s celebrations.
23 April is a symbolic date in world literature. It is the date
on which several prominent authors, William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes
and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. This date was a natural choice for
UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute
to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone to access books.
World Book Day changes lives
through a love of books and shared reading. Our mission is to promote reading
for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a
book of their own.
Reading for pleasure is the
single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family
circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. We want
to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a
life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this
brings them.
World Book Day was created
by UNESCO on 23rd April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading.
It is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.
The first World Book Day in
the UK and Ireland took place in 1997 to encourage young people to discover the
pleasure of reading.
Books have long embodied the human capacity to
conjure up worlds, both real and imagined, giving voice to the diversity of
human experience. They help us share ideas, obtain information, and inspire
admiration for different cultures, enabling far-reaching forms of dialogue
between people across space and time.
