Are you familiar with World Book Night? Despite its name, it began in only the UK and Ireland last year, when volunteers—armed with 25 specially-printed book titles from Jane Austen and Charles Dickens to Iain M. Banks and Cormac McCarthy—fanned out across the region and gave away one million free copies. The event included what was billed as "the biggest single literary event in the world ever, " with readings and performances at London's Trafalgar Square.
The celebration was so successful, it spawned a second year in the UK in 2012 and events in Germany and the U.S. You can help with the U.S. World Book giveaway by signing up to be a volunteer by February 1st, and then, if you're chosen, giving away 20 books to people in your community on April 23. The organizers need 50,000 volunteers and only require that you be a U.S. citizen, at least 16 years old and are able to articulate where, to whom and why you want to give books away.
There were some critics of the endeavor last year, concerned the freebies would damage commercial book sales. However, the goal is not to preach to the converted, as it were, but to find non-readers or light readers and help spread a passion for reading to others in your city. As the U.S. World Book Night site states, most of the "publishing, bookstore, library, author, printing, and paper community is behind this effort with donated services and time."
If you'd like to know which books were selected for the U.S. giveaway, check out the list. For more information on registering as a volunteer, the World Book Night site has details.
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