Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls, VT and a team of 25 Book Givers will be giving books away in our region from April 23rd as part of World Book Night. Successfully launched in the UK in 2011, World Book Night is an annual campaign to give away free books across the country all on one day, Monday April 23, 2012. Thirty books were chosen to be part of the programs and each Book Giver is being given a carton of 20 of the same specially-produced, not-for-resale paperbacks.  Book Givers signed up back in February to be part of this exciting project, choosing their book and describing how they would give away their 20 copies in an effort to encourage literacy and spread the love of reading.  A reception for Book Givers will be held on Thursday April 19 at 6pm, prior to the bookstore's Spring Meet The Author event at 7pm. Book Givers can review their plans for giving away their books at that time and they will receive their boxes. However, books will not be given away until Monday April 23rd.

April 23 was chosen since it is the UNESCO International Day of the Book, chosen in honor of Shakespeare and Cervantes, who both died on April 23 1616. (It is also the anniversary of Shakespeare's birthday.) In the Catalan region of Spain, the day is celebrated by giving a book and a flower to a loved one. We also hope that it’s a lovely spring day perfect for spreading the love of reading in our community.  World Book Night in the U.S. is a non-profit organization, and has filed for 501(c)3 charitable status. World Book Night U.S. is supported by publishers, Barnes & Noble, the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Library Association, and Ingram Content Group. More information on the national initiative can be found at www.us.worldbooknight.org.  Village Square Booksellers has a display of the titles in the front of their store.