What the World Needs Now: One Million Free Books
Have you ever loved a book so much you want everyone to read it?
The St. Louis County Library is proud to participate in the first US World Book Night on April 23, 2012. Sponsored by publishers, the American Bookseller Association, and the American Library Association, World Book Night will provide free paperbacks to over one million people. But they need your help to disseminate the books. The organization is looking for 50 thousand book giver volunteers to hand out 20 books each. On April 23, volunteers will give these books out to strangers at the coffee shop, grocery store, gym, church, or wherever a new reader might linger.
To sign up to be a book giver, you just need to fill out the application on the World Book Night website – http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/about-world-book-night/register-as-a-2012-giver. And act fast; you must sign up by February 1! The organization will let you know mid-February if you’ve been selected as a book giver.
You will then be able to select your three favorite titles from their list of 30 books. With some of the best books of the last several years included–stunning novels like Chris Cleave’s “Little Bee” and Ann Patchett’s “Bel Canto,” great memoirs like Patti Smith’s “Just Kids” and Jeannette Walls’ “Glass Castle,” and fabulous books for young readers like Marcus Zusak’s “The Book Thief.” and Suzanne Collins’ ”Hunger Games”–you will be well-equipped to go out into your community and say “here read this; it’s my favorite.”
Four St. Louis County Library locations will serve as pick up locations for your book shipments: Headquarters, Thornhill, Tesson Ferry, and Florissant Valley -http://www.slcl.org/about/hours_and_locations. We will also give a library tote bag or t-shirt to everyone who signs up for the program and selects the Library as their home base.
As the website sums up, ”Reading changes lives and at the heart of World Book Night lies the simplest of ideas and acts – that of putting a book into another person’s hand.”
