World Book Day (UK and Ireland)

Last updated
World Book Day
WorldBookDay 4March2021.jpg
Yellow Post Box in Shepherd's Bush, London, to celebrate World Book Day
Observed byFlag of Ireland.svg  Ireland
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
TypeCharity event
Datefirst Thursday in March
2023 date2 March
2024 date7 March
2025 date6 March
FrequencyAnnual
First time23 April 1998;26 years ago (1998-04-23)
Related to World Book Day
World Book Night

World Book Day is a charity event held annually in the United Kingdom and Ireland on the first Thursday in March. On World Book Day, every child in full-time education in the UK and the Republic of Ireland is provided with a voucher to be spent on books; the event was first celebrated in the United Kingdom in 1998.

Contents

The event is the local manifestation of the original, global World Book Day organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing, and copyright, and widely observed on 23 April. Organizers in the UK moved the observance to avoid clashes with Easter school holidays and with Saint George's Day. Book publishers in Ireland decided to bring World Book Day to Ireland a number of years later.

Conversely, the World Book Night event organized by independent charity The Reading Agency is held on 23 April. [1]

History

The United Kingdom's own version of World Book Day began in 1998, launched by Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Globe Theatre in London.[ citation needed ] Several million schoolchildren in the UK were given a special £1 World Book Day Book Token which could be redeemed against any book in any UK bookshop. A specially created WBD anthology priced at £1 was also published. All World Book Day point of sale and the £1 book carried the special World Book Day logo to help unify the initiative through all outlets.

Since then, World Book Day UK has followed a similar pattern, gradually growing each year to encompass more initiatives, such as Spread The Word, Quick Reads Initiative and Books for Hospitals. Every year, the number of children receiving a World Book Day Book Token has increased.

In 2000, instead of a single £1 special anthology, four separate £1 books were published, covering a wider age-range. Since then, each year has seen a new set of special £1 books published.

In 2006, World Book Day began its support of and association with the Quick Reads [2] initiative for adult emergent readers.

In 2007, World Book Day celebrated its 10th anniversary with the publication of 10 £1/1,50€ books. Since then every child in full-time education in the UK and Ireland is entitled to receive a £1/1,50€ World Book day Book token every year. They can swap their WBD token for one of specially-produced WBD books or they can get £1/€1 off a full-price book or audio book priced £2.99 or euro equivalent.

Administration

World Book Day is a registered charity in England and Wales. [3] It does not raise funds for itself but does support Book Aid International [4] and Readathon as its nominated charities, encouraging schools to hold special fundraising events for children less fortunate than themselves. World Book Day is not funded by the British Government although the Quick Reads element does receive support from ACE, DIUS and NIACE. The funding for World Book Day activities comes from the major sponsor, National Book Tokens [5] and the UK book trade (publishers and booksellers).

Funding also comes from Foras na Gaeilge, An Post and Vision Ireland. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comic Relief</span> British charity

Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make the public laugh, while raising money to help people around the world and in the United Kingdom. A new CEO, Samir Patel, was announced in January 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic Relief</span> International aid agency based in Birmingham, UK

Islamic Relief Worldwide is a faith-inspired humanitarian and development agency which is working to support and empower the world's most vulnerable people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Curie (charity)</span> United Kingdom charitable organisation

Marie Curie is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides hospice care and support for anyone with an illness they’re likely to die from, and those close to them, and campaigns for better support for dying people. It was established in 1948, the same year as the National Health Service (NHS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Book Day</span> Annual event to promote reading, publishing, and copyright

World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing, and copyright. The first World Book Day was celebrated on 23 April in 1995, and continues to be recognized on that day. A related event in the United Kingdom and Ireland is observed in March. On the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO along with the advisory committee from the major sectors of the book industry, select the World Book Capital for one year. Each designated World Book Capital City carries out a program of activities to celebrate and promote books and reading. In 2024, Strasbourg was designated as the World Book Capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Book Capital</span> UNESCO award for cities promoting books

The World Book Capital (WBC) is an initiative of UNESCO which recognises cities for promoting books and fostering reading for a year starting on April 23, World Book and Copyright Day. Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital carry out activities with the aim of encouraging a culture of reading in all ages and sharing UNESCO's values. The nomination does not provide a financial prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant (money)</span> Non-repayable funds disbursed by one party to a recipient

A grant is a financial award given by a government entity, foundation, corporation, or other organization to an individual or organization for a specific purpose. Unlike loans, grants do not need to be repaid, making them an attractive source of funding for various activities, such as research, education, public service projects, and business ventures. Examples include student grants, research grants, the Sovereign Grant paid by the UK Treasury to the monarch, and some European Regional Development Fund payments in the European Union.

Tearfund is an international Christian relief and development agency based in Teddington, UK. It currently works in around 50 countries, with a primary focus on supporting those in poverty and providing disaster relief for disadvantaged communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aid to the Church in Need</span> International pastoral aid organization of the Catholic Church

Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic pastoral aid organization, which yearly offers financial support to more than 5,000 projects worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hero Initiative</span>

The Hero Initiative, formerly known as A Commitment to Our Roots, or ACTOR, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping comic book creators, writers, and artists in need. Founded in late 2000 by a consortium of comic book and trade publishers, including Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Wizard Entertainment, CrossGen Comics and Dynamic Forces Inc., the 501(c)(3) charity aims to assist comic creators with health, medical, and quality-of-life assistance.

The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. The Association also promotes crime writing of fiction and non-fiction by holding annual competitions, publicising literary festivals and establishing links with libraries, booksellers and other writer organisations, both in the UK such as the Society of Authors, and overseas. The CWA enables members to network at its annual conference and through its regional chapters as well as through dedicated social media channels and private website. Members' events and general news items are published on the CWA website, which also features Find An Author, where CWA members are listed and information provided about themselves, their books and their awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charities Aid Foundation</span> International charitable organization

The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) is a registered UK charity that operates in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada. It works with companies, private philanthropists, regular donors, fellow foundations, governments, charities and not-for-profit enterprises to enable them to give more. Its stated purpose is to “accelerate progress in society towards a fair and sustainable future for all.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concern Worldwide</span> Irish aid and humanitarian agency

Concern Worldwide is Ireland's largest aid and humanitarian agency. Since its foundation in 1968 it has worked in 50 countries. According to its latest annual report, Concern helped 28.6 million of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people in 2019, while responding to 82 emergencies in 24 countries. Concern aims to help those living in the world's poorest countries. Concern is engaged in long-term development work, in addition to emergency relief in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Concern's core work focuses on health, hunger and humanitarian response in emergencies. The charity works in partnership with small community groups as well as governments and large global organisations. Concern is one of fourteen fully certified members of Humanitarian Accountability Partnership. It has no religious or political affiliations.

The Dollywood Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Dolly Parton, with headquarters in Sevierville, Tennessee. Shortly after the opening of the Dollywood theme park in 1986, the Dollywood Foundation was created in April 1988, and began by offering scholarships to local high school students. From there it grew into the Imagination Library, started in 1995, which distributes free books to children monthly, up until the age of 5. The Dollywood Foundation grew again into the My People Fund, which started in 2016 after wildfires ripped through Tennessee. The current President of the Dollywood Company is Craig Ross. Today, the foundation continues to grant scholarships and awards, and provides support to numerous non-profit organizations that aim to improve the quality of life of children and others in need.

Quick Reads are a series of short books by bestselling authors and celebrities. With no more than 128 pages, they are designed to encourage adults who do not read often, or find reading difficult, to discover the joy of books.

Book Aid International is a UK registered charity which provides books and supports libraries in Africa and around the world. Every year the charity sends books to public and community libraries as well as libraries in prisons, refugee camps, hospitals, schools and universities. The charity works in close partnership with libraries and also helps libraries develop their services through its library support projects and programmes. In 2019, an estimated 19 million people read the books which Book Aid International provided. Book Aid International should not be confused with the Book Aid Charitable Trust, a Christian UK charity also serving African and other countries, mainly with second-hand Christian books, which was founded in 1988 before the Ranfurly charity adopted a "Book Aid" name.

BookTrust is a UK children's reading charity dedicated to getting children reading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iress</span> Australian software company

Iress is a technology company providing software to the financial services industry in Asia-Pacific, North America, Africa and UK & Europe. Iress software has more than 200 integrations and 300 data feeds, and is used by more than 500,000 users globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autism Cymru</span> Former Welsh national charity for autism

Autism Cymru was Wales' national charity for autism with offices in Cardiff, Wrexham, and Aberystwyth. The charity was established in May 2001 through an initial 3-year grant provided by The Shirley Foundation. The founder chair of the Trustees was Dame Stephanie Shirley of the Shirley Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global H2O</span>

Global H2O Group is a 501(c)(3) registered charity in the United States of America, which was founded by James DeWitt Wilde, David Simons, and Chris Wooten. According to the charity, Global H2O has funded over 30 projects in Northern Uganda, helping 60,000 people to obtain clean drinking water from the production of standard United Nations designed boreholes.

References

  1. "World Book Night". worldbooknight.org. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  2. "Quick Reads". 2006-03-04. Archived from the original on 2006-03-04. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  3. "WORLD BOOK DAY LIMITED - Charity 1079257". Charity Commission. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  4. "Book Aid International". Book Aid International. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  5. "National Book Tokens". National Book Tokens. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  6. "LÁ DOMHANDA NA LEABHAR ÉIRE | WORLD BOOK DAY IRELAND". World Book Day. Retrieved 2024-08-04.