World Book Night 2014!

Guess what today is? GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS? It's Hump Day!

 

No not really. Actually, yes, it is Hump Day, but guess what else it is?

 

 

WORLD BOOK NIGHT 2014!

Hello wonderful blogglings. Yes, it officially that time of the year. World Book Night is an annual day when over 25,000 people across the world hand out free books to those who do not normally have access to books. Whether the person is elderly, poor, or just does not normally have access to books, World Book Night is designed to give those people their own book. For free. Thanks to the wonderful publishers, authors, and every one else behind the scenes, they forget their royalities for one day and send out hundreds, maybe thousands of their novels to promote reading across the world. This year, I decided to help out.

I live in a small town in Southwest Virginia. The population is barely over 2,000 people, and around 15% of those people live below the poverty line. Our county's population is a little over 23,000 and about 17% of its total population lives below the poverty line. The adult illiteracy rate in our county is almost 15% as well. Because of these large numbers of the poor and illiterate in my area, I thought my town (and surrounding area) would benefit greatly from an organization such as World Book Night. Because of this, I signed up and filled out a form to register to be a 2014 World Book Night giver. And I was accepted, along with 25,000 other individuals world-wide.

Today, April 23rd, 2014, I will be walking around in my area, handing out 20 copies of The Perks of Being A Wallflower to teens in my area, and 20 copies of one adult book. I will simply be walking down the streets asking people if they are avid readers or not. If they say yes, they are not to receive a book. Only those who do not regularly read (whether because they cannot afford a book of their own or do not have the means of getting one) will receive a WBN special edition copy of the novel of their choice, free of charge. At the end of the day, I plan on taking copies of Steven Chbosky's great hit The Perks of Being A Wallflower to the several underfunded schools in my area, and the adult books to the women's shelter or retirement home. Anyone who wants to read should be able to read, no matter their financial state.

I'm handing out books this afternoon. Stay tuned for my next post, telling of all the people I managed to meet and their stories. Until then, happy World Book Night 2014!