By Sydney Jarrard
Staff Columnist
PORTSMOUTH—
On Monday, April 23, book-lovers from across the country will unite for World Book Night, an entire day organized to encourage “the reluctant readers” of America to pick up a good book. If you’re in downtown Dover, on the UNH Campus or in Market Square in Portsmouth that Monday, you may just find yourself a part of the biggest book giveaway event this country has ever seen.
Inspired by World Book Night in the United Kingdom, World Book Night U.S. boasts a total of 25,000 book givers signed up to give out free books in 5,962 towns across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Bermuda. Givers will receive 20 copies each of the book of their choosing, one of 30 titles made available to them, and will hand them out in an approved public place on April 23. The titles run the gamut from “The Hunger Games” to “Little Bee” to “The Kite Runner,” and from authors including Stephen King, Maya Angelou and Jodi Picoult. Volunteers aim to engage with people who don’t have access to books by reason, or with those who simply don’t read.
April 23 is the International Day of the Book, as declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is celebrated as a holiday in the Catalan region of Spain, where loved ones give a book and a flower to one another, and is also Shakespeare’s birthday. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, World Book Day, with the focus on children’s books, and World Book Night, geared for an adult readership, were initiated to continue the celebration on reading. This year is the inaugural year for World Book Night U.S.
Coordinated by Carl Lennertz, Executive Director of World Book Night U.S. and all-around publishing guru, the program has been supported in droves by publishers, printers, book distributors, booksellers, libraries and the general public. Lennertz put the word out at a series of publishing conferences throughout 2011, and there was no question about the interest. “Everybody just totally got it,” says Lennertz.
At Winter Institute, a national gathering of publishing and book professionals in January, Lennertz announced the big deadlines for the program. He needed thousands of people to sign up as book givers within the next three weeks, so he asked bookstores to reach out to their customer bases to get the buzz going. The bookstores ran with it. “It was a crash schedule, but it’s been working great,” explains Lennertz.
Each of the 25,000 givers will receive a case of the book they have chosen. The designated World Book Night books have been specially printed with a white border around the cover art, and a special letter from Lennertz and author and supporter Anna Quindlen is inside of each. The books were printed without barcodes, since they are to be handed out for free and not sold, and the traditional jacket copy has been replaced with information on World Book Night and its mission. The cost of printing and shipping the books has been shared among publishers, printers and shipping companies, and each author is foregoing royalties on their respective title.
The locations chosen by givers to hand out books have been varied: local parks, subways, low-income schools, hospitals, yoga studios, tattoo parlors, bars, prisons and more. The Wichita police department in Kansas is taking Michael Connelly’s “Blood Work” with them on rounds, while Vernon Legakis, a surfer in Santa Cruz, will be taking plastic-bagged copies of Patti Smith’s “Just Kids” out on his board to hand out in the water.
It’s not just metropolitan areas that have climbed on board, either. In smaller towns and cities like ours on the Seacoast, the response has been great. Because of the struggling economy, which can affect smaller areas more than urban cities, there’s a need for this community-charged event. Assures Lennertz, “There are more givers per capita in small towns and there’s a bigger need in small towns.”
And givers have the Seacoast covered. The excitement is at a fever pitch on the national level, but our local bookstores and readers are just as fired up for this day of giving.
Amy Sterndale of Durham will be picking up her book, “Bel Canto” by Anne Patchett, at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth. Her plan is to station herself outside of the McConnell Community Center in Dover, which attracts a variety of people throughout the day. “It’s going to be a really interesting experience handing out books to strangers,” says Sterndale, an avid reader herself. But she’s very happy to be a part of the program. “One of my favorite jobs ever was working in bookstores and connecting somebody with an author they didn’t know yet. To feel like I’ve opened up a world for somebody else is something that I really enjoy. In a way, it’s very selfish, but I hope it gets more people reading.”
Water Street Bookstore in Exeter is the distribution point for other local givers, with an entire book pick-up party planned for givers to meet and greet and share ideas about locations and plans for the day. Stefanie Kiper, the store’s events coordinator and marketing manager, was instantly on board with the program when she heard about it at Winter Institute in January. “I hope it’s successful,” says Kiper. “I’m excited to be a part of a program that brings our community together over books.”
In Concord, Gibson’s Bookstore has more than 20 people signed up to get their cases during a pick-up party. Michael Herrmann, the store’s owner, is a fan of just about all the titles on the list, and is hoping they will entice some new readers. “Our business is to seek out people who are already self-identified as readers,” says Hermann, but being that World Book Night is a way to reach new ones, they’re very happy to participate. Gibson’s also features an entire window display of the World Book Night titles.
Jena Gregoire, who is picking up her books at Gibson’s, will spend time in the Concord Main Street community and at Steeplegate Mall with “Q is for Quarry” by Sue Grafton. A self-proclaimed “die hard book lover,” she has been promoting the event through her book review blog, as well as through Facebook and Twitter, with the hope of getting people excited about the event.
The entire World Book Night buzz has been self-generated by enthusiastic participants. While World Book Night has been covered by local and national media outlets, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest have played indispensable roles in spreading the word through bookstores, authors, givers and publishing professionals. “This is all about the givers. They’re the marketing campaign. They’re going to do it all themselves with their enthusiasm,” says Lennertz.
With the anticipation building toward an entire day of celebrating books; givers and bookstores are also looking forward to what comes next. A live Flickr stream will allow participants to upload photos during pick-up parties a week prior to the event, and they will continue to upload photos as the day gets underway. A documentary is in the works to record the day’s events, and after-parties are planned for givers to share their experiences.
At the heart of World Book Night is the enormous community of readers and book professionals who simply want to get books into the hands of reluctant readers. Gregoire, who comes from a long line of readers, sums up her hopes for World Book Night. “I know entirely too many adults that have said ‘I don’t read,’” she says. “I can’t understand how someone can ‘not read.’ Reading keeps you sharp, keeps you entertained and gives you some down time that most adults don’t get nearly enough of in their lives. I am hoping to see more adults discover (or rediscover, as the case may be) a love for reading.”
(Courtesy Photo)
