Do you know what April 23rd is?

Outside Window

You are correct if you guessed William Shakespeare’s birthday—and the day he died, too. But I’m looking for another bookish answer. Anyone?

It’s World Book Night! The first (hopefully annual) celebration of books and reading. If you haven’t heard about the nationwide event happening in many cities, I caught up with Carl Lennertz, Executive Director, World Book Night U.S., to learn more about it and how book lovers everywhere can get involved.

If you aren’t participating today, I encourage you to follow Carl and his team on Facebook and Twitter so you can be a part of this really cool plan to give away thousands and thousands of books in your community next year.

Briefly, what is World Book Night and how did it come about here in the U.S. this year?

It’s a one day giveaway of free books by volunteers to light or non-readers, and it started in the UK last year. It was such a success, the American book industry got behind it this year, and to the tune of a half million free books!

There are 30 World Book Night titles. How did you come up with this list? Do you have a personal favorite?

We came to it via several rounds of voting by booksellers and librarians, and yes, I was thrilled that Ender’s Game made this list.  I was a sci-fi guy in college, and I’m hoping Dune makes the list next year!

I understand thousands of citizens across the U.S. signed up to give books out tonight. How many cities are represented?

25,000 citizens, in fact, including some of the wonderful employees of your company. It’s taking place in 5,800 towns and cities total, AND you can see a map of where the givers are on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/worldbooknightusa). There’s also a photo of the cool looking special WBN editions printed especially for this event.

To become a World Book Night Giver, people had to submit an application, including where they planned to give away books and why. Can you share some of the most touching entries you received?

I have almost cried at times. People are going to dialysis centers, women’s shelters, schools with at-risk kids, and so much more.  Military bases before troops go overseas. A lot of people are in need in this country, and the generosity and caring of the givers has made me especially proud of my fellow citizens. And yes, there will also be some fun spots: diners, bowling alleys, and even a tattoo parlor and a rodeo.

Givers will be picking up their boxes of books from bookstores (I’ve seen some great display photos!) and libraries across the country. Tell me about the involvement of these groups and what it means to World Book Night.

Because this is such a large country and also because I’m a small town kid, I always saw WBN as not top-down from NYC, but as grassroots and in the community, and no people are more a fabric of their towns than the booksellers and librarians. They are central to rallying the givers, getting them together and thanking them—giving this event a lasting impact.

For readers of this blog who may be hearing about World Book Night for the first time or did not participate this year, what do you want them to do?

Sign up for the newsletter at http://www.worldbooknight.org/ and be the first to sign up next year!

Will this become an annual event?

Well, I certainly hope so.  A lot of people and companies have kicked in sweat and money, from you all to UPS to the publishers and book printers, but I’ll need that and some more next year.

Finally, after all the months of planning, World Book Night is finally here. What will you be doing tonight—giving out books?

I’ll be at a program that helps inner-city kids get college and financial advice, and I’ll be there with Ender’s Game!

 

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  • Gardjones

    A somewhat brief follow-up here. It really was a lot of fun, and surprising how everyone received “World Book Night” — something they’d never heard of before. Two teenage boys sitting next to a gas station smiled and accepted the books with a “Thank you, sir,” and a 19-year old girl working at a McDonald’s counter lit up with a huge smile and said, “I love to read!” She opened the book up, then said, “I better put this up for now or I’ll start reading it right here.” Nobody was skeptical about receiving the books. It was great fun, and you were exactly right yesterday saying that books have the power to change people’s lives, more often after they’ve been passed along to someone else.

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      I’m so glad to see the excitement for reading.

  • Desiree Wooldridge

    As one of the planners of World Book Night, I spent a hundred hours meeting and discussing, analyzing, planning, and communicating all for the single goal of spreading the love of reading.  I even gave away my box of books to someone who wanted to be a giver.  As I was walking from the parking garage to an event, I, ironically, became the recipient of a World Book Night title.  A total stranger stopped me on the street and told me she wanted to give me a book she thought I would like.  So, I will be enjoying The Book Thief and feeling like the circle was completed.

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      You were an important part of the night. Thanks for all you did to make it a success. If ever there is a story to say “what goes around comes around” this is it!

  • Damon Sharpe

    World Book Night was fun.  We (my family insisted on helping) had to change our planned location but finally wound up at the local school field where there were multiple games going on.  A few passes up and down the various sides and we had found new homes for all of our books with most recipients being introduced to a new writer.

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      And a terrific family event.

  • Elaine Davenport

    A group of us from the pre-party here at work switched up titles which gave us all an assortment to hand out.  We then set out in separate directions with our bounty.  I guess my takeaway from the event, which I loved participating in, was that most of those I approached and shared books with, were book fans and avid readers!  That was enlightening and I was pleasantly surprised!  Funny thing was ‘the look’ that almost every recipient gave me after getting their book – like okay what’s the catch.  But THEY were pleasantly surprised to find there was no ‘catch’! 

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Random acts of kindness = priceless.

  • Janice Greer

    I handed out books last night at a rehbilitation/nursing home. The experience was great, the patients enjoyed the books tremendoulsy. I read to the patients for more than an hour and I am going back on Thursday to read to some of the patients.

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Very rewarding, Janice. Thank you!

  • Steve Pate

    I handed out books to a class of adults who’ve gone back to school to complete their high school education.  And I ended up spending more than an hour reading out loud with them.  All of us had a great time.

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Steve, that is awesome!

  • Chris Hocking

    I wanted to share my World Book Night experience.  We went to a movie theater, where we were going to offer our books in the lobby.  We had copies of Peace Like a River and The Kite Runner, and response was good.  The moviegoers were easy to talk to and usually interested in the prospect of free novels.  My chief problem seemed to be that I had an armload of The Kite Runner, which apparently everybody coming to the theatre already owned.  “That’s a great book!  But I already read it.”  Perhaps the fact that there was an excellent movie made from the book a couple years back had something to do with this.
    In any case, by the time the film started to roll and customers stopped filing into the theater, my partners still had a few books, and I still had most of that armload.  So we hit the streets.  Although it was clear that some pedestrians were initially skeptical of identically t-shirted bookpeople approaching them with free novels on the sidewalk, we did well, with a clerk actually coming out of her store to ask if she could have a book.   Finally it came to the point where my two comrades had given away all of their books, and I still had two copies of The Kite Runner left.  The street abruptly seemed empty and I admit I wondered how long I might spend trying to find my books a home.  I spotted a cluster of women waiting at a cross street for the light to change and approached them.
    “Care for a free copy of The Kite Runner?  It’s World Book Night and booksellers are trying to promote literacy.”
    “Wow, that book is wonderful!” one of the women said. 
    “It is?”  “I’ll take one.”  “Sure!”  “Me, too.”
    So in the end not only did I find an enthusiastic audience, but I was one book short.  I left them to divide and share the books, and felt an odd sense of comfort in the fact that the demand for something to read actually exceeded my supply.       
    Chris Hocking
    IPS

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Chris, what a story. Thanks for sharing it.

  • http://dbartosik.com/ david bartosik

    Honest…..never heard of it before, but seems like great way to get literature to students and the last picture looks like kindles…though I didnt see that in the post.  Great way to attempt to make readers and LEADERS!  b/c leaders are readers…

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Glad we are getting the word out.  That was the book, no Kindles.

  • Gardiner Jones

    I have taken a slightly different approach to World Book Night, embarking on a journey, of sorts, to deliver my case of “Friday Night Lights” to unsuspecting readers. Rather than giving them all away in ONE night, I am giving them out as I feel led. One man tossing a ball with his daughter in my neighborhood got the first copy. Then my immediate neighbor who’s wife said, “the only book I have is yours!”. Six more went out to blue-collar workers at the Mapco Express gas station. I’m planning a visit to the local VA hospital too. The coolest thing I’ve experienced tonight is that everyone accepted a book and said thank you for it. It’d been pretty cool just handing books to total strangers and seeing them  smile because someone wanted to give them a book. :D  Thanks to all who made this possible. I’m looking forward to next year’s event too.

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      What terrific stories! Thanks for sharing. I know you ended up giving most of the books away last night and will get the rest out shortly. Terrific to see the reaction.

  • Cherylaldridge2010

    Excellent idea, I’ve never heard of it before, but alot of people would benefit from this.

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Thanks for writing, Cheryl. Books can be a powerful source of inspiration, entertainment and education.

  • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

    Awesome! One of my coworkers was selected to give away books tonight. I can’t tell you how excited he is! 

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Joe, that’s terrific. I’d love to know about his experience.

      • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

         He said it was a blast. His group had a gathering and passed out books there. When there were leftover books they headed to the streets and passed them out to pedestrians on the road in and shops. One of the gentlemen he handed a book to started to tear up as he remembered his mother telling him he needed to read more when he was younger.

        • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

          I love it.

  • Ckubala

    I am a giver who gave away 20 copies of The Book Thief at our local US Post Office. A rewarding and interesting experience. I thank the publishers and promoters for this opportunity to spread the joy of reading and good story.

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Thank you for letting us know. It’s a wonderful day to encourage reading and make a difference.