Would you like 50 copies of your favourite book to give away?

For many years each March the country has celebrated World Book Day. Every child is given a free book token worth £1.00 and every year a special selection of books is released which cost just £1.00. So every child in the country could find themselves a free book. It’s a great idea and has established itself now for over 10 years. People have often wondered about how to extend the scope of this annual event by also involving adults. Well, in 2011 Britain’s adults are to be encouraged to celebrate the pleasures of books and reading. The first World Book Night will be held on Saturday March 5th  2011. In an unprecedented display of solidarity and generosity the book trade is preparing to give away ONE MILLION BOOKS. Some might call it March Madness but the beauty of the idea is that you could be one of those giving away the books. Yes, the World Book Night organisers are looking for an army of 20,000 book lovers from all over the country who would like to receive a box of 50 copies of one of their favourite books. There is no catch and no conditions; other than a promise to give those books to others in any way that you think is appropriate. It might be on Colchester High Street, or in a pub or club. It could be through a hospital, a prison, old folk’s homes or colleges.
 
The scale of this is enormous: it means that in theory about one in every 35 adults is likely to be given a book as a gift. And at the heart of the project is the notion that this very different from a retailer giving a book away in, say, a 'buy one get one free' offer. Nor is it that these books are to be given away as a promotional exercise (as all the titles will be already published with a proven track record). No, the idea really is to make possible an enormous outbreak of giving by people who are passionate about particular books and that they will transfer some of their love and enthusiasm to others. Hopefully, in this process so many people, many of whom may be lapsed or infrequent readers, will be touched by this mass gifting of books, that interest in books and reading through out the country will be given an enormous boost. Many within the trade will be watching events next March very carefully and it will be interesting to see how much impact it has at the time and whether or not there will be any longer lasting effect.
 
Meanwhile there are 25 books selected to be part of World Book Night for 2011 and the search is on to sign up 20,000 people to help with the biggest giveaway of books ever. If you want to be part of this here is the link to the World Book Night site where you can find out all the details and apply to become a giver: http://www.worldbooknight.org