World Book Night is Just Around the Corner

Click here for details!

I can't believe it, but the second annual US participation in World Book Night is just around the corner.  How do I know?  Yesterday I got my official notice that I was accepted as a giver again this year.

So were a few other people at the library (employees and patrons). Like last year we tried to all request different books and then agreed to pool our resources, mix up giveaway boxes of a few different tiles, and then spread out across Berwyn to hand out books.

We will not know the title we have each been given for a few more days, but it really doesn't matter.  Last year we had 3 different titles and people were so happy to be offered a free book.

World Book Night is great PR for reading, for book publishing, and for the library.  But you know me, I'm all about the library, so that's where I will focus right now.

Although at the BPL we do a great job bringing the library to the people with things like Book Lover's Club, Trivia Night, school visits, and appearances at all major city festivals, there is no better way to promote the library, its services, and its awesome staff (I will not apologize for saying so myself) then by going to people where they already are going about their lives (the grocery store, the train station, the YMCA, etc...) and simply handing them a book...for free...no strings attached!

Like you saw in yesterday's post, while people expect more than just books from the library, 80% still feel that books are VERY IMPORTANT.  Books are our brand.  It is what people first think of when they hear the word library.  To be able to leave the building and get out into the community to spread this core message at no extra cost to us is an invaluable opportunity to promote ourselves along with reading.

Here's a quote from World Book Night's own page entitled, Why is World Book Night Important?:

Why does World Book Night exist? Reading for pleasure improves literacy, actively engaging emerging readers in their desire to read. Reading changes lives, improves employability, social interaction, enfranchisement, and can have a positive effect on mental health and happiness. Book readers are more likely to participate in positive activities such as volunteering, attending cultural events, and even physical exercise. 

Or more simply put, books are fun—and they can be life-changing.

Ahh, music to my ears.  This statement is my life's work. Even I have days when I question the "importance" of my professional life devoted to leisure reading.  I am equally as trained to be a hard core reference librarian. [I was a law librarian for three years before finishing my Masters degree.] Some may say this is a "higher" job.  But I say NO.  Statements like the one above (which is footnoted to a study here) remind me that what I do-- what all of you do-- is vital to American society.  I help to create happier, healthier, and more involved citizens.  And I get to do it with books!  It's a dream come true.

So thank you World Book Night from me, from my patrons, and from those unsuspecting people who I will be encountering on the evening of April 23, 2013. I am honored and excited to be part of such a wonderful celebration of the life-changing nature of books.


You can click here for all of the World Book Night details.  And I will have updates on the titles we will be giving out and the locations where we will be soon here on RA for All.