Volunteers to Give Away a Half Million Free Books on Tuesday, April 23rd

NEW YORK, April 23, 2013 – From Kodiak to Key West, Concord to Carlsbad, Grand Forks to Galveston, in 6,200 towns and cities across America, more than 25,000 World Book Night U.S. volunteers will go out and personally hand out a half million free books to new or light readers on one day: April 23, 2013.

World Book Night is an ambitious campaign in which volunteer givers help promote reading and community by each distributing 20 specially printed copies of a book they have read and loved in both public and private locations. Givers will reach out to places with people in need such as nursing homes, underfunded schools, VA hospitals, and family shelters. The givers are also going to settings like Little League games, subways, firehouses, and diners.

In Kentucky, a woman who was once a resident in a women’s shelter, and is now living on her own, is returning to the shelter to give out books. Three generations of givers are going out in Detroit, New Orleans and on a military base in Okinawa. High school students and advisors in Queens, New York, are visiting a school damaged by Hurricane Sandy to hand out WBN editions in English and Spanish.

World Book Night U.S. Executive Director Carl Lennertz said: “Our volunteers are truly generous and creative people who love books and care about sharing the written word with those who perhaps lack the means or access to books, or have gotten out of the habit of reading.”

World Book Night U.S. is enjoying its second year of giving the gift of a printed book. World Book Night was successfully launched in the UK and Ireland three years ago, and is celebrated on the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birthday. This charitable effort is supported by publishers, book manufacturers, Federal Express Corporation, and 2,300 bookstores and libraries nationwide.