World Book and Copyright Day 23 April
Books: A Window into the World During COVID-19
Now more than ever, at a time when globally most schools are closed and people are having to limit time spent out of their homes, the power of books can be leveraged to combat isolation, to reinforce ties between people, and to expand our horizons, while stimulating our minds and creativity.
During the month of April and all year round, it is critical to take the time to read on your own or with your children. It is a time to celebrate the importance of reading, foster children's growth as readers, and promote a lifelong love of literature and integration into the world of work.
Celebrating World Book and Copyright Day
Through reading and the celebration of World Book and Copyright Day, we can open ourselves to others despite distance. We can travel thanks to imagination. From April 1st to 23rd, UNESCO is sharing quotes, poems and messages to symbolize the power of books and encourage reading as much as possible. By creating a sense of community through the shared readings and the shared knowledge, readers around the world can connect and mutually help curb loneliness.
In such circumstances, we invite students, teachers, and readers from around the world, as well as the whole book industry and library services, to testify and express their love for reading. We encourage you to share this positive message with others through #StayAtHome and #WorldBookDay.
The more people we can reach, the more people may be helped.
- The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, named Tbilisi (Georgia) World Book Capital for the year 2021, based on the recommendation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee, which met in Switzerland in June, 2019.
Around the slogan Ok. So your next book is…? the programme focuses on the use of modern technologies as powerful tools for the promotion of reading among young people.
The programme comprises several important, large-scale and sustainable activities involving libraries and a book festival for children, a state-of-the-art digital project for transforming books into games, and the rebuilding of the first Georgian publishing house.
Specifically designed for children, youngsters and readers who have limited access to books, the programme of activities will be driven by innovation. The city's principal objective is to popularize reading and increase accessibility to books throughout society.
Background
It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those, who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity. With this in mind, UNESCO created the World Book and Copyright Day. The Day is celebrated by a growing number of partners and since its launch has shown itself to be a great opportunity for reflection and information on a significant theme.
It is observed by millions of people in over 100 countries, in hundreds of voluntary organizations, schools, public bodies, professional groups and private businesses. In this lengthy period, World Book and Copyright Day has won over a considerable number of people from every continent and all cultural backgrounds to the cause of books and copyright.
Since 2000, World Book and Copyright Day has inspired another initiative of professional organizations which receives the assistance of UNESCO and backing from States: World Book Capital City. Each year a city is chosen which undertakes to maintain, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the Day’s celebrations until 23 April of the following year. Almost all the regions of the world, in turn, have already been involved in this process, which thus transforms the celebration of books and copyright into a recurrent activity, extending still further the geographical and cultural influence of books.
Over recent years, the World Day has shown that it can be a potent symbol for the launch of major support operations, in particular in Latin America and Africa. (Source UN)
"Books have the unique ability both to entertain and to teach. They are at once a means of exploring realms beyond our personal experience through exposure to different authors, universes and cultures, and a means of accessing the deepest recesses of our inner selves."
- 23 April is a symbolic date in world literature. It is the date on which several prominent authors, William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors, such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.This date was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone to access books.
By championing books and copyright, UNESCO stands up for creativity, diversity and equal access to knowledge, with the work across the board – from the Creative Cities of Literature network to promoting literacy and mobile learning and advancing Open Access to scientific knowledge and educational resources. With the active involvement of all stakeholders: authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media, and all those who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors, World Book and Copyright Day has become a platform to rally together millions of people all around the world.
The UNESCO Courier issues on books
Further reading from UNCCD Library: 📚 SDGs resources for education ; 📚 environmental education ; 📚 *education
