Would you like to be a World Book Night giver on April 23, 2014, in support of literacy and community?
April 23 is Shakespeare’s birthday, The UNESCO International Day of the Book, and the date chosen by World Book Night U.S. (WBN) organizers to give away a half-million specially printed paperbacks across the United States. (World Book Night is also celebrated in Ireland and the U.K.)
The application deadline for being a book giver is Jan. 5, 2014. Application is done online at www.worldbooknight.org where you can find the guidelines and rules. Applicants must be 16 years of age or older, and may not resell the books, nor give them to friends, family or book groups. Applicants are asked to describe where they intend to give out the books, to whom they intend to give books, and why they want to participate. They also have to choose three book titles to give away from a list of more than 30 titles provided by WBN to satisfy a variety of interests.
The point of WBN is to start non-readers or light readers on their own journey to becoming book lovers. WBN provides books through agreements with authors and publishers, and financial support from a long list of organizations and companies.
Great River Regional Library will provide book package pick-up services for volunteer book givers at each of its 32 locations. Each volunteer will receive 20 copies of one book to give away. Providing people with materials and services to support lifelong learning and personal enrichment is a goal within the library’s strategic plan. In 2013, local book givers gave away books outside grocery stores, city parks, bus terminals and other locations.
The free WBN editions are not available elsewhere, but standard editions of the selected books are available through all GRRL locations.
The World Book Night U.S. titles for 2014, alphabetical by author, are:
“The Zookeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews
“Zora and Me” by Victoria Bond & T.R. Simon
“Kitchen Confidential” by Anthony Bourdain
“The Weird Sisters” by Eleanor Brown
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
“After the Funeral” by Agatha Christie
“The Ruins of Gorlan: The Ranger's Apprentice, Book 1” by John Flanagan
“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by Jamie Ford
“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” (Large Print edition) by Jamie Ford
“The Lighthouse Road” by Peter Geye
“The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell
“Wait Till Next Year” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
“Catch-22” by Joseph Heller
“The Dog Stars” by Peter Heller
“Hoot” by Carl Hiaasen
“Pontoon” by Garrison Keillor
“Same Difference” by Derek Kirk Kim
“Enchanted” by Alethea Kontis
“Miss Darcy Falls in Love” by Sharon Lathan
“Bobcat and Other Stories” by Rebecca Lee
“Young Men and Fire” by Norman Maclean
“Tales of the City” by Armistead Maupin
“Waiting to Exhale” by Terry McMillan
“Sunrise Over Fallujah” by Walter Dean Myers
“Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson
“The Botany of Desire” by Michael Pollan
“The Raven’s Warrior” by Vincent Pratchett
“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs
“When I was Puerto Rican” by Esmeralda Santiago
“Cuando Era Puertorriqueña” by Esmeralda Santiago
“Where’d You Go, Bernadette” by Maria Semple
“Where’d You Go, Bernadette” (Large Print edition) by Maria Semple
“Wild: From lost to found on the Pacific Crest trail” by Cheryl Strayed
“Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow
“Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein
“This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff
“100 Best-Loved Poems” edited by Philip Smith
For more information about World Book Night, visit www.worldbooknight.org.
Great River Regional Library (GRRL) provides library services at 32 public libraries in Benton, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright Counties. It provides Central Minnesota residents with nearly 1 million books, CDs and DVDs, 250 public computers, programming and information services.
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